Alice King and Lily Nichols had never met until the day Alice volunteered to be an escort for her children and other children on the SS Carlisle (SS City of Benares) from London to Canada.

The SS Carlisle was surrounded by a convoy of Royal Navy ships that were to protect the SS Carlisle from German U-boats, but the ship was torpedoed and sunk. Where did the convoy go?

This left everyone scrambling to the lifeboats as they watched the ship sink along with those who didn't make it out.

What horrible news for the parents whose children were on the ship.

There were no other lifeboats in the water except Lifeboat Number 12 that had been miscounted and mixed up with another lifeboat that was thought to have been rescued.

How did the other lifeboats make it to safety or did they?

Why are they the only lifeboat in this vast ocean?

We follow Alice, the children, and other adults as they wait for a rescue boat for eight days in the rough waters.

THE LAST LIFEBOAT is based on true events and tells us this heartbreaking story through Ms. Gaynor's marvelous research and writing style.

You won't want to stop reading to see how it all turned out.

You will cry and cheer along with the characters when they are rescued and as some of the children are reunited with their families.

You will also cry for those who perished.

You will find lots of interesting information about what is kept in a lifeboat for emergencies.

This is another event I was not aware of....were you?

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.