It is 1912 and Elinor Coombes, wealthy and clever but unsophisticated, finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage with an impoverished aristocrat. The only solace in her life is her infant son Teddy, but her access to him is limited and she dreads the day when he will be sent away to school against her wishes.
She is granted a brief respite when her father secures tickets for an Atlantic voyage on a new luxury liner, The Titanic. For a few days she is able to enjoy the company of her son and the absence of her critical in-laws. But then disaster strikes: her father and her husband are among those who have perished and she has to decide what to do next.
Landing in America Elinor realises she has a choice. She could return to England where her in-laws would claim a legal right over Teddy, or she could assume the identity of a missing passenger, and disappear in New York.
She decides to plunge herself and her son into an unknown world of poverty and back-breaking work. Despite the hardships she is happy in her new life, until she discovers that she needs to keep looking over her shoulder to make sure her secret is safe.
This is a page-turning story as Elinor faces a series of setbacks in her life, learning who she can trust and who she cannot. The reader cheers her on when she tries to stand up for herself but the relief is only ever temporary. Even when she seems to find a solution to her problems, it soon becomes apparent that new obstacles have surfaced.
The Lost Passenger shines a light on the way that members of the English aristocracy were trapped in a system that made none of them happy. And it contrasts that life with the determination of those who make their own way in the world: first Elinor’s self-made industrialist father, and then the budding entrepreneurs of New York.
But really this is a story about courage, self-awareness, and the willingness to take the chances that are offered to you. It may contain the odd cliché, such as the information learnt in an overheard conversation, but that doesn’t stop it being an enjoyable and satisfying read.
The Lost Passenger, Frances Quinn, Simon & Schuster, 2025, 9781398520684
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