Wanderers and Stargazers

Introduction and Disclaimer

I remember being fascinated, like so many others, with the story of Titanic as a kid, and one person that always loomed large in the tales of that fateful night was Fifth Officer Lowe. In that stilted Edwardian society, he alone emerged as singularly relatable. It didn't hurt that his temperament closely matched my own, which made me like him all the more. It seemed he evoked strong feelings in others, as well, and made quite the impression - mostly positive, sometimes negative, but either way, he proved to be unforgettable, both for the victims of the Titanic disaster, and for me. When I rewatched Titanic (the Cameron movie), I was once again drawn to his character (even though his personality was somewhat muted, I think, in the movie version). So I wanted to tell a version of the sinking from his perspective - but with a twist. With the writing of this fictionalized account, my fascination with his story has truly come full circle.

This is primarily a romance, with the Titanic as its backdrop. And of course, it's completely fictional, but filled in with details from RealLowe's life - with one very important caveat. At the time of the sinking, RealLowe was engaged, and soon after married his long-time sweetheart, ultimately having two children, and by all accounts was very happy. For purposes of my story, however, FictionalLowe is single. Yes, my characterization of him mixes in traits and facts from RealLowe, but I will stretch and fabricate when it suits the story - and he definitely needed to be single for this story to work! There is absolutely no disrespect intended toward any surviving family members of RealLowe, and my hope is that no one is offended.

I owe a lot of my characterization of Lowe to both Lord's A Night To Remember and Wade's The Titanic: Disaster Of A Century. Both offered colorful and fascinating portraits of the officer. But it was Inger Sheil's thoroughly researched and engaging biography, 'Titanic Valour', that added depth to the man and a full accounting of his life before and after the sinking that wasn't available from any other sources. I try to incorporate this information in the story wherever possible; however, any alterations of the facts, whether deliberate or accidental, are all my own.

This story is very near and dear to my heart, and I wanted to make it as realistic as possible - with the exception of the above-mentioned caveat, of course. Because historical accuracy was important to me, I used multiple references and sources, although I won't list them all here because it would sound pretentious, haha. I do want to give a shout-out, though, to Encyclopedia Titanica for biographies of individuals (they have one for every single passenger and crew member on board!), deck plans (which I am garbage at interpreting, so please forgive any stupid errors), and lifeboat assignments and launch times. Of course, despite my research, it is likely that the text is riddled with historical inaccuracies; I take full responsibility for those, and apologize in advance for mucking it up.

Although I want to stress again that this is an entirely fictional portrayal, whenever possible, I like to incorporate RealLowe's actual words (although I rarely quote him directly). Anyone that has even a passing familiarity with Titanic's story will likely recognize some of them. I do change it up, though - they might appear in a different context, or at a different time, or even said by a different character. I also like to put in callbacks, shout-outs, cameos, and Easter eggs in my writing, so feel free to jump in and point them out when you see them

Warning: this turned out to be a rather serious, dramatic (book-length) tale, with very little levity. So there won't be any officer camaraderie or hijinks here - although I love those stories myself! I think I'm just not good with the banter, haha... angst and melodrama are more my thing. Just wanted to give people a heads-up that if they're looking for that type of storyline, this won't be it. And although there are other characters, they are mostly there to support the main romance, which takes center stage; it's not really an ensemble cast. Finally, the language and behavior back then was more formal than it is now, and I have tried to reflect that in my writing (with the exception of Harold Lowe, who does, says, and thinks whatever he pleases).

Final disclaimer: Most of the characters appearing in this story are historical and/or already fictionalized in Cameron's Titanic; thus I don't own them. I only lay claim to the three Irish girls that I created - and the plot, of course.

I LOVE feedback, so please let me know what you think! Thanks!