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| Categories | Genre Fiction |
| Author | Jennifer E. Smith |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books (March 1, 2022) |
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| Item Weight | 1.15 pounds |
| Dimensions |
6.4 x 1.1 x 9.57 inches |
I. Book introduction
An indie musician reeling from tragedy and a public breakdown reconnects with her father on a weeklong cruise in “a pitch-perfect story about the ways we recover love in the strangest places” (Rebecca Serle, bestselling author of In Five Years)
“The characters are drawn with a generosity that allows them to be wrong but also right, loving but also prone to missteps, and ultimately deserving of a resolution that’s full of hope.”—Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Flying Solo
Right after the sudden death of her mother—her first and most devoted fan—and just before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing, her career suddenly in jeopardy—the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always predicted; the kind he warned her about when he urged her to make more practical choices with her life.
Months later, Greta—still heartbroken and very much adrift—reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian, onboard to lecture about The Call of the Wild, who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life. As Greta works to build back her confidence and Ben confronts an uncertain future, they find themselves drawn to and relying on each other.
It’s here in this unlikeliest of places—at sea, far from the packed city venues where she usually plays and surrounded by the stunning scenery of Alaska—Greta will finally confront the choices she’s made, the heartbreak she’s suffered, and the family hurts that run deep. In the end, she’ll have to decide what her path forward might look like—and how to find her voice again.
Editorial Reviews
“Beautiful, moving, hopeful: I loved this book from beginning to end, and will be thinking about it for a long time. It’s a total triumph.”—Emily Stone, author of Always, In December
“Warm, funny, and bursting with heart, [it’s] exactly the book you want to read: a pitch-perfect story about the ways we recover love in the strangest of places.”—Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years
“Filled with music, passion, and love of all kinds . . . a fast-paced, emotional novel and an unforgettable exploration of family and the choices we make that shape our lives.”—Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of Everything After
“I burst into tears at the end of Jennifer E. Smith’s gorgeous, heartfelt The Unsinkable Greta James—tears of surprised happiness. I loved traveling to Alaska with the wild and tender Greta, and found her escape an addictive journey. I will miss her—and her music—now that I’ve turned the final beautiful page.”—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Lifeguards
“Thoughtful and tender and true . . . perfectly captures the messiness of loving and being loved . . . Smith has written a gripping relationship story that’s also a perceptive exploration of what it means to dream. I devoured it.”—Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of I’ll Be You
“This novel is unabashedly sentimental in the best possible way. It’s about how family can misunderstand us, grief can undo us, and our dreams can save us. It’s a total delight, as transporting and diverting as the Alaskan cruise Greta herself is on in these pages.”—Christine Pride, co-author of We Are Not Like Them
“Smith has crafted a story about mothers and daughters, fathers and children, grief, happiness, and healing—and also about the music industry, hard work, dreams, and relationships both old and new. . . . Readers of Evvie Drake Starts Over will enjoy this book. A well-told story with evocative prose that bares—and bears—the ragged emotions that accompany a journey to healing.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of March 2022: A pitch-perfect novel of loss, love, and connection that has all the feels—think a mix of Where’d You Go Bernadette and Daisy Jones & The Six. Greta James is an indie rock star, but after the death of her mother and a terrible performance on stage, she retreats from her very public life and agrees to join her estranged father on an Alaskan cruise. Will the week-long vacation give Greta a shot at making things right with her dad, with her career, and maybe even with her love life? Greta is a character you root for: she’s relatable, flawed, hurting, and misses her mom so much that it’s impossible not to cry on her behalf. The Unsinkable Greta James is not only entertaining but heart expanding, and seems destined for book clubs and the big screen.
About Jennifer E. Smith
Jennifer E. Smith (Jennifer Elizabeth Smith – born 1980) is an American author of young adult novels, including bestsellers The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Windfall and Field Notes on Love.
Jennifer Elizabeth Smith was born in Lake Forest, Illinois. She graduated from Colgate University in 2003 with an English degree, and she also holds a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She began working for a literary agent in New York City. Her first novel, The Comeback Season, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. Both this book and Smith’s second book, You are Here, sold poorly. However, she encountered her first commercial success with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, written after having taken a break from writing. Smith continued to work as an editor at Random House while also working on her own writing until 2015. Currently, her work has been translated into 33 languages. As of 2021, Smith has published ten novels, including nine young adult novels, and one novel aimed at middle graders.
Her first picture book, The Creature of Habit, illustrated by Leo Espinosa, was released in 2021. Her first novel for adults, The Unsinkable Greta James, was released in 2022.
II. [Reviews] The Unsinkable Greta James: A Novel by Jennifer E. Smith
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1. KERRIN review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is a lovely story about a daughter trying to make peace with her father after her mother’s unexpected death. The daughter just happens to be an up-and-coming indie rock star. That was until she had a melt-down while performing right after her mother’s passing. It’s been three months and Greta hasn’t performed and can’t seem to move forward. And while her mother was her biggest supporter, her father wants her to have a more normal life. The two of them have butted heads for years, with Greta’s mother playing referee. On what would have been her parents’ 40th-anniversary trip, Greta joins her father and her parent’s best friends on an Alaskan cruise. On the ship, she befriends the handsome guest lecturer, Ben Wilder, who has written a successful novel about Jack London. He is also having an identity crisis from struggling with his own family and career issues.
Sprinkled with occasional humor, the author treats the issues respectfully and realistically. Nothing is fast or easy when it comes to rebuilding relationships or careers. In the end, there is an overall feeling of hopefulness and healing, along with the possibility of romance.
4 stars. Book club recommended because there will be lots of juicy discussions about parent-child relationships. Thank you to #NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced reader copy. Also thanks to Taylor Noel whose review brought this to my attention. This book will be published on March 1, 2022.
2. NILUFER OZMEKIK review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
I already enjoy those sentimental YA books of Jennifer E. Smith before and as far as I can see she can successfully achieve to switch genres to create this heartfelt adult/ women’s fiction/ family drama!
An Alaskan trip bring Greta James, grieving daughter who recently choke up at the stage in front of her fans which went viral and threatened her to lose her entire musical career she’s hardly built and her father who never believed in her dream, lost without his wife’s existence in his life.
She involuntarily replaces her mother’s place in this long awaited trip which was planned to celebrate her parents’ 40th anniversary and 4 close friends of the family also join them. Poetic, isn’t it?
Greta feels lost, aching deeply because from the beginning of her musical journey, her mother is her supporter, confidante, her best friend who encouraged her to chase her dreams. She wrote the song called “Astronomy “ for her mother but she could never hear it, she suddenly passed away. That’s why she had her emotional breakdown at the stage. She couldn’t finish the song. Now she’s a mess. And her brother convinces her to take trip to Alaska to accompany her father.
Well, I have to admit the depictions of sightseeings were brilliant and this book is like travel guide that encourages you to cancel everything in your life to go to visit to Alaska.
The father- daughter’s dysfunctional relationship, past wounds, resentments, misunderstandings were perfectly analyzed. And the romance parts with nerdy professor whose main focus is Jack London novels was also sweet!
This is well written, heart warming, positive, inspirational, lovely women’s fiction/ family novel about grief, love, choices, second chances! Especially I recommend it to the fans of the author and lovers of well developed, relaxing, sweet- enchanting novels!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/ Ballentine’s for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
3. WHITNEY ERWIN review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
An emotional, heartfelt read! Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. Greta and Ben were dynamic characters that I loved, but I personally didn’t care much for Conrad. I wanted him to support his daughter and her lifestyle more, so he was a bit of a bummer. The author did a fantastic job bringing the Alaskan setting alive in this book, adding a lot of details, which I appreciated. I would have loved an epilogue a bit further into the future. I would have enjoyed knowing what happened with Ben and what direction he decided to go in with his life. Bonus points for a cute cover that grabs your attention!
Thank you, Net Galley and Ballantine, for an ARC in return for my honest review!
4. AUTUMN HASSETT review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
I adored this story – as someone who’s lost a parent (and a sibling), the themes in this book hit home for me. Greta and her father’s raw emotions were so familiar to me – so authentic.
Not to mention the Jack London tie in – that connected me to this story on a more personal level.
A heartwarming story reminding you to really live, not merely exist. Go out there and do what you love.
5. L H review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES by Jennifer E. Smith was interesting for several reasons. The main character, Greta, is a famous musician who is recognized when in public and draws huge audiences, but whose father doesn’t approve of her career. At her brother’s suggestion, Greta joins her father on a planned cruise after her mother’s death. The book explores family relationships and how a career choice impacts your life. Plus, I now want to take the same cruise because of the wonderful description in this book. No more clues, you must read it yourself.
6. CARRIE M. MEDDERS review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
I’ve read all of Jennifer E Smith’s YA novels – and they’re all great. I was excited when she posted about this book, that it was her first non-YA novel. I pre-ordered it immediately. I knew it would be good but I didn’t know how good. This book is un-put-down-able!! I absolutely loved it!!
The writing is sharp, which was not unexpected, and the characters were well-developed and interesting. I wanted to know more about everyone but also felt like I knew them quite well.
The story is fun, heartwarming, heartbreaking at times, and so, so good. Highly recommend!!
7. K.B review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
I decided to finally check this book out because I saw it popping up all over the place especially on bookstagram. Glad I did because it was an interesting story about a women trying to find herself after the recent death of her mother. The Alaskan cruise setting was so picturesque I’m itching to go visit the 49th state.
Greta James is living the dream, touring the world as a famous musician. Her mother, Helen, was supportive from the get go and was her biggest fan. Greta’s dad, Conrad, wasn’t happy though when it became clear Greta was going to turn her hobby into a career. After the sudden death of Helen, father and daughter go on an Alaskan cruise with family friends to honor Helen’s memory. A chance for Greta and Conrad to repair their rocky relationship or will it cause a further division?
With the mom being the heart of the family and the glue that held things together, her loss certainly left an impact. Even though the story is told from Greta’s perspective eventually you are able to see where the dad is coming from in regards to his actions and behavior. Parent-child relationships can be complicated and I like how the author was able to explore that a bit.
Ben, a writer and historian, was a good character to throw into the mix. It’s funny because at some point I almost felt like I was right there on the ship with these people. Even though this story is about grief, my spirits were lifted while I read this book. Among other things it serves as a good reminder to go out and see the world as we only get one shot here on Earth.
8. LIZ review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
At the end of 2021, I find myself involved with two books both targeting family dynamics. Luckily, both of them were enjoyable stories that I can recommend.
Greta James is a fairly successful indie musician who is dealing with her mother’s death. Her mother had been the one to stand between Greta and her father, who disapproves of her life. Now, she finds herself taking her mother’s place on an Alaskan cruise with her father. On board, she meets a professor hired to lecture on Jack London. He’s dealing with his own family dramas and the two hit it off.
I enjoyed this family drama. I’ve found that death always shakes up the family dynamics. Greta was a fully realized character. At age 36, she’s wondering how long her current lifestyle will work for her. I felt her grief, her doubts and her disappointments. But also her slowly dawning awareness of her father’s situation. I enjoyed seeing how these two were able to find their way towards not just a truce but an understanding of each other. I found myself shedding more than a few tears at the end.
I understand that Smith’s prior books were in the YA genre. But here, she writes an adult story. It’s heartwarming, but not at all sappy. I did struggle a little that Greta’s on stage meltdown after her mom’s death became such a big deal. But that’s a minor quibble.
I was impressed with Miller’s ability to create the Alaskan cruise ship atmosphere, both on and off the ship. This would make a great transfer onto the screen.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House -Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this book.
9. SALLY HANAN review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
This quiet story is about a week spent on an Alaskan cruise, and the grieving father and daughter who find it hard to be around each other now that the gaping hole of where Mom should be is ever present.
Full of deep, heartfelt pain and hope, it is brilliantly written mix of lit and women’s fiction, with almost every page full of word-painted descriptions of the Alaskan landscape.
All three (including the love interest) must work through their perspectives and decide what to keep and what to let go of in order to move forward in life, and also what to do with what they decide to keep; for as we know, nothing ever stays the same and we either move with the changes or become trapped in amber.
10. TAYLOR NOEL review The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
I can’t remember the last time I felt so emotionally connected to a novel.
This book The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is compulsively readable and I cared so deeply for Greta and her dad. I thought their relationship was incredibly well-constructed – the tension between them was palpable and believable and tugged at my heart. Even though I have a great relationship with my parents, I think there’s something universal about needed approval from the people who raised you. I also loved Ben and the moments of comic relief and romance that he brought to the story without overwhelming it.
I teared up so many times while reading this book, but I also smiled a lot and I wrote down so many sentences that I wanted to hold onto a little longer (including a few below). THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES was such a cathartic read and I just loved every minute of it.
I think it’s perfect for fans of EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER, DAISY JONES & THE SIX, DEAR EDWARD and WHERE’D YOU GO BERNADETTE.
III. [Quote] The Unsinkable Greta James: A Novel by Jennifer E. Smith
The best book quotes from The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
“It’s a particularly strange kind of loss, when something you don’t think you even want gets taken away from you.”
“The truth is, being a parent is mostly just reacting. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. You give what you can. And at the end of the day, most of it is just being there.”
“Maybe the point isn’t always to make things last. Maybe it’s just to make them count.”
“It’s what’s driven her all these years, the fear of all that – of getting stuck, of standing still, of being ordinary.”
“It’s that the life he wants for her is fundamentally different than the life she wants for herself, and music is the boat that’s forever carrying her away from it.”
“But she’ll never fully understand why skepticism is most people’s first reaction. Maybe it’s jealous. Or maybe it’s something deeper than that, a kind of resentment for having the audacity to be living her dream when their had to be left behind.”
“The truth is, being a parent is mostly just reacting. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. You give what you can. And at the end of the day, most of it is just being there.”
“Maybe the point isn’t always to make things last,” he says. “Maybe it’s just to make them count.”
“It’s like that feeling of getting off a long flight and taking your first breath of fresh air. You were okay on the plane. You could breathe just fine. And you could survive like that for a pretty long time if you had to. But once you’re off, you realize you wouldn’t want to live that way forever. Not if you had a choice. I think being away did that for me. It helped me realize I hadn’t breathed—really breathed—in a very long time.”
“Greta finds it almost painful sometimes to think about all the different lives she could be leading, to know that every choice she’s made has meant the loss of so many other possibilities. Every day, more doors close. Without even trying, simply by moving forward, you end up doubling down on the life you’ve chosen. And the only way to survive is to commit to it fully, to tell yourself it’s the right one. But what if that’s not true?”
“The love part,” she says, so quietly that only Greta can hear, “is more important.”
“The crowd wasn’t huge that night, maybe a couple hundred people. But as soon as she stepped onto the stage, Greta saw that her mom was right. There she was, right up front, with her thin glasses and short gray hair and sensible shoes, beaming amid a sea of college kids and hipsters dressed mostly in black. When their eyes met, Helen smiled and lifted a small white sign. Greta was in the middle of a complicated riff, but when the song came to an end, she took a few steps forward and squinted at it, trying to make out the words. GRETA’S MOM, it said in simple block lettering.”
“The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist.”
“That’s the thing about New York – it’s always bringing people together at unexpected moments. That’s part of its magic.”
“We set out to be wrecked. —J. M. BARRIE, The Boy Castaways of Black Lake Island”
“the way they looked at each other, like each thought they were the luckier one.”
“What she’s lost, really, is her closest ally: someone just as fiercely independent, just as passionate about his work, someone who – not so long ago – would’ve shuddered at the thought of wedding registries filled with fancy china and fondue sets. It’s a smaller loss. But it’s still a loss”
Book excerpts: The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
Chapter One – The Unsinkable Greta James
Greta is standing at the window of a hotel in West Hollywood when her brother calls for the third time that day. Across the street, there’s a billboard with a sleek white yacht surrounded by turquoise water, an ad for a new kind of beer, and something about it—that feeling of being adrift—makes it easier to say no when she finally picks up the phone.
“Come on,” Asher says. “It’s only a week.”
“A week on a boat.”
“It’s a ship,” he corrects.
“It’s the last thing I need right now,” Greta says, turning from the window, where the light outside is dreamy and pink. She’s just come from a photo shoot for the cover of her second album, which has been pushed to July. If it were up to Greta, she would’ve moved it back even further, but apparently, that’s no longer an option. Instead, she’d been summoned to Los Angeles to spend three days in a warehouse surrounded by flashing cameras and frowning studio execs in suits and sneakers, the pressure to get this right all over their faces.
It’s been two months since she last performed live—not since the week after her mother died, when she fell apart onstage—but everything else has continued to march ahead, the business part of things still grinding forward mostly without her.
On the desk, next to the hotel stationery, there’s a plate of chocolates with a note from the hotel manager that says, We’re so happy you’re with us. Automatically, Greta thinks of her mom, who no longer is, whose absence feels so breathtakingly final that even this is enough to make her heart drop.
“Why don’t you go?” she says to Asher, trying to imagine spending all that time on a boat with her dad. The Alaskan cruise had been her mother’s idea. It was all she talked about for nearly a year, right up until March, when an artery ruptured in her head and the whole world seemed to stop.
Now it’s only a month away. And her dad is still planning to go.
“We can’t let him do this alone,” Asher says, ignoring her question. “It’s too sad.”
“He’ll hardly be alone,” Greta says as she wanders into the bathroom. “He’ll have the Fosters and the Blooms. They’ll take care of him.”
She stares at her reflection in the mirror, her face still made up from the shoot. Red lips, white skin, green eyes lined with charcoal. Her dark hair, usually so wild, is now sleek and tamed. She sets the phone down on the sink and switches to speaker, then twists the tap and begins to scrub it all off.
“He’ll be a fifth wheel,” Asher insists, his voice bouncing around the bathroom. “It’s depressing. One of us has to go with him.”
“Right,” Greta says. “You.”
“I can’t.”
She straightens again. Her skin is now pinkish, but she looks more like herself, which is always a relief. She grabs a towel and pats at her face. “The thing is,” she says, picking up the phone again and walking back out into the room, where she flops onto the bed, “he actually likes you.”
“Greta,” he says, impatient now. “You know I can’t do it.”
She knows this, of course. Asher has a wife and three girls under the age of five. He has a job with a boss and a regular work week, an HR department, and a set number of vacation days, which mostly get used up when the kids are sick. He hasn’t been on a plane in years.
Greta’s already been on three this week.
She sighs. “What are the dates again?”
“End of May, beginning of June.”
“I’ve got to be in the city for Gov Ball on the fifth,” she says, almost indecently relieved to have a legitimate excuse, no matter how much she’s dreading it. But this does nothing to deter Asher.
“Lucky for you,” he says, “it gets back on the fourth.”
“You know this isn’t just any show. It’s important.”
“More important than Dad?”
“That’s not fair.”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to choose,” he says. “You’ll be back in New York in time to do your thing. And I’ve heard Alaska is beautiful this time of year. Still a little cold, maybe, but that was just Dad trying to save some money—”
“Asher?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“Sure you can. You love the water. Remember that time we took the canoe out on—”
“You know what I mean.”
He goes silent for a moment, then says, “It wouldn’t just be for him, you know.”
And that’s what finally gets her.
”
….
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