We Sink or Swim Together

by Gill Paul

The Weepy One: Part of the Love…Maybe ebook short story collection.

Gerda Nielsen is on her way from Brooklyn to Liverpool aboard the ill-fated Lusitania in 1915.

Jack Walsh is returning to England, ready to take up a post developing new types of portable field telephones to help the war effort. Unmarried, he’s keen to settle and as he and Gerda spend more and more time onboard together they realise that each has found someone very special.

But it’s the afternoon before they dock in Liverpool, and tragedy strikes. As the torpedoed ship lists to one side Jack and Gerda must make frightening decisions that become a matter of life or death …

A beautiful, romantic and moving tale based on a true story.

***This is a short story, which you can also buy as part of the Love…Maybe Eshort Collection***

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

57 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2015

About the author

Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of thirteen novels, many of them reevaluating extraordinary twentieth-century women whom she believes have been marginalized or misjudged. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages.
Her latest novel, Scandalous Women (2024), is about trailblazing authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann battling their way to the top in the misogynous boys' club of 1960s publishing. A Beautiful Rival (2023) is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. Jackie and Maria (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. The Collector’s Daughter (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and The Manhattan Girls (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”.
Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A History of Medicine in 50 Objects and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes Royal Love Stories, World War I Love Stories and Titanic Love Stories.
Gill lives in London where she swims year round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story. Finished it in a day.

[Jules (Never enough time to read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great wee short that kept me hooked to the very last page.

I am quite excited to have discovered a new author to add to my ever growing TBR pile.

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Gill Paul a lot - probably because the first book I read by her, Women and Children First, was about the Titanic, so I was predisposed to be interested. The setting for this little story is the Lusitania, in May of 1915. I started it expecting a love story, and We Sink or Swim Together delivered beautifully.

Gerda Nielson was returning to her family after working in the States for five years. On the ship, she meets Jack Welsh, who is also heading back to England. An instant rapport occurs....

I would hope that most people would know why the Lusitania is an important backdrop. Gill Paul seems to be drawn to writing about shipboard drama, and she does it well. She's got a lot to delve into for future books, too, so she's given herself a great launching pad. I enjoyed this little "keep the fans entertained" story that helped me bide my time until I start the next novel.

[Judith Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another win

Ms Paul has the ability to translate history into riveting prose. Her characters are perfectly represented in the boundaries of her story. I love historic fiction and this author has taken the genre to a new level.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short story, would make an excellent novel!

[Georgi_Lvs_Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually thought this was based on the titanic! But it’s not….. still an enjoyable little read.

[Tracie Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. It was a pleasant read.

[Linda Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little short story.

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about sunken ships that seem so romantic? I mean they are essentially stories of death, heartbreak, panic , loss, destruction and traumatic experiences yet it is easy for people to find the love story within. James Cameron did it with Titanic and now Gill Paul (an author with a reputation of writing historical shipboard romances) has found the love story among the Lusitania.

The story focuses on the real life romance of Jack Welsh and Gerda Neilson who fell in love aboard the Lusitania only to face the tragedy of the ship being hit by a wartime torpedo that nearly tore the couple apart. In this short story, Gill Paul manages to convey the desperation and terror that passengers must have felt as they tried to get away from the Lusitania as it rapidly sank to the depths of the Irish Sea. She makes you believe that the power of love saved this tragic couple who had met and fell in love only days before. She pulls at the old heartstrings.

We Sink or Swim Together is a harrowing little short that will have you gasping for breath until the last page.

We Sink or Swim Together by Gill Paul is available now.

Follow Gill Paul (@GillPaulAUTHOR) on Twitter.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short book

If you enjoy ready real life love stories you will.lime this shirt read. It is definitely a different way of meeting someone, falling in love and in today's world would be considered falling in love and proposal of marriage too quickly, but we must remember that things were done much differently in that time period. If you are looking for something in a different.time period and a quick love story to read, this would be it.

[Jeanette montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read.

A great story and liked the characters.