On her first voyage as a stewardess aboard the Empress of Ireland, Ellie is drawn to the solitary fire stoker who stands by the ship's rail late at night, often writing in a journal. After their wonderful time in Quebec City, that awful night happened. The screams, the bodies, the frigid waters... she tries to tell herself that he survived, but it's hard to believe when so many didn't. So when Wyatt Steele, journalist at The New York Times, asks her for her story, Ellie refuses. But when he shows her Jim's journal, she jumps at the chance to be able to read it herself.