The Midnight Watch is a TITANIC story not to be missed!
Beaumaris Books
In association with Penguin Books Australia
Proudly presents an evening with
DAVID DYER
Discussing his fabulous „Titanic‟ novel–
THE MIDNIGHT WATCH
When: Tuesday 12th April 2016, 7.30pm
Where: GINGER FOX (formerly Malt),
23-25 South Concourse, Beaumaris
Cost: Book & ticket together for just $50
Also includes admission & finger food.
Beverages at bar prices.
*Only at time of ticket purchase
*Only one specially priced book per ticket
**Phone credit card bookings accepted**
Ticket Only $35
Phone: 9589 4638
E-mail: read@beaumarisbooks.com.au
Bookings Essential
The Midnight Watch
Just after midnight on 15 April 1912 the SS Californian saw eight distress rockets fired from the sinking Titanic, but unfathomably did nothing. What went wrong? One of the most famous catastrophes of the 20th century, the sinking of the Titanic continues to fascinate to this day. Much less well known is the story of the ship that could have gone to her aid but didn‟t. The Midnight Watch is a dramatic, compelling novel that brings to life what happened on this mysterious ship during those fateful hours.
Why didn‟t the Californian‟s Captain Lord come out of his cabin? Why didn‟t Second Officer Herbert Stone wake the wireless operator?
How could two such experienced men fail to act? And why did no one save the Sage family?
Starting with this historical incident, David Dyer has created an unforgettable character in John Steadman, a reporter for the Boston American. Steadman knows there's another story lurking behind the official one being touted by Captain Lord and Herbert Stone. His determination to uncover it is driven not only by the fifteen hundred who went to their deaths in those icy waters, but by the loss of his own baby son years earlier. Steadman must either find redemption in the Titanic's tragedy, or lose himself. Highly anticipated both here and in the UK and the US, The Midnight Watch is at once a heart-stopping mystery and a deeply knowing novel - about the frailty of men, the strength of women, the capriciousness of fate and the price of loyalty.
DAVID DYER is well placed to tell the enigmatic tale of the Californian, the ship that failed to come to the Titanic‟s aid. He has a deep knowledge of the Titanic and an abiding passion for her story, and has his own experience of the sea, having worked as a ship‟s cadet and third officer in the Australian merchant navy. He was also a maritime lawyer for many years at the London legal practice whose parent firm represented the White Star Line in 1912.
David grew up in a coastal town in NSW, and after graduating as dux of his high school went on to train as a ship's officer at the Australian Maritime College. He was awarded the Company of Master Mariners Award for highest overall achievement in the course, and travelled the world‟s oceans in a wide range of merchant vessels. He then returned to the University of Sydney to complete a combined degree in Arts and Law. David achieved first place in Music, High Distinctions in English literature, and First Class Honours in Law. He worked for many years as a litigation lawyer in both Sydney and London before taking up a post as an English teacher at a
school in Sydney‟s eastern suburbs.
In 2009 David was awarded a Commonwealth Government scholarship to write The Midnight Watch as part of a Doctorate in Creative Arts at the University of Technology Sydney. „I spent days reading Lord's papers in the archive of the Merseyside Maritime Museum,‟ David says, „the highlight of which was my finding of the original letters of the Californian's second officer and apprentice, written within days of the disaster, in which they describe the rocket-firing ship they saw. Tears came to my eyes as I held these flimsy letters in my white-gloved hands. “I observed a white flash apparently on her deck,” writes the apprentice, “followed by a faint streak towards the sky which then burst into white stars.'' Although he did not know it at the time, these rockets were, of course, the Titanic‟s desperate cry for help‟.