WINNER OF THE WHITBREAD PRIZE FOR FICTION 1996WINNER OF THE COMMONWEALTH WRITERS'' PRIZE 1997''A narrative both sparkling and deep . . . the cost of raising [the Titanic] is prohibitive; Bainbridge does the next best thing'' Hilary Mantel''Brilliant . . . do not miss this novel'' Daily Telegraph''A moving, microcosmic portrait of an era''s bitter end'' The TimesFor the four fraught, mysterious days of her doomed maiden voyage in 1912, the Titanic sails towards New York, glittering with luxury, freighted with millionaires and hopefuls. In her labyrinthine passageways the last, secret hours of a small group of passengers are played out, their fate sealed in prose of startling, sublime beauty, as Beryl Bainbridge''s haunting masterpiece moves inexorably to its known and terrible end.