Gwyneth Atlee (28 page)

Author’s Note

I hope you have enjoyed
Against the Odds.
To read Jacob Fuller’s
story, look for
Trust to Chance
in January of 2001. An excerpt is
available online at www. gynethathlee.com.

More than 1,700 people lost their lives as a result of the destruction
of the
Sultana,
making it the deadliest maritime disaster in the history
of the United States. But the yearly death tolls of the Civil War and
Abraham Lincoln’s assassination a few weeks earlier had numbed the
public, so news about the steamboat accident faded, leaving few traces
in most history books.

This novel is a work of fiction. However, many of the events are
real, as are several minor characters, including Capt. J. Cass Mason,
Capt. Frederick Speed, R. G. Taylor, Nathan Wintringer, and Major
William Fidler. These characters’ actions and conversations were
derived from historical accounts of the final days of the
Sultana.
Their
thoughts and motivations, however, are of my own construction.

To learn more about the
Sultana,
visit
www.sultana. org
on the web
or explore the books mentioned in the acknowledgments of this novel.