The most unique story of WWII: the British ship Laconia was carrying nearly 3,000 people 600 miles from land in 1942 when a German submarine sent two torpedoes into her starboard side. Why did the Germans help to rescue survivors? Find out from author Alison O'Leary.

Author Alison O'Leary is a longtime journalist who has worked for newspapers from Austin, Texas to Reno, Nevada; Bath, Maine and suburban Boston. She was a correspondent for the Boston Globe, editor of The Boston Parents' Paper and skirt! magazines.

The book Abandon Ship (Little, Brown 2023) represents weeks of research in UK archives and museums. Several first-person accounts of survival described in the book were not previously published, including that of Josephine Frame. In early 2022 Alison discovered "Jo" and was welcomed to her home near London for tea. The Wall Street Journal's review called Abandon Ship "sensational" and "propulsive."​​

Made possible by the Groton Public Library Endowment Trust.