Doubleday, 2022. 272 pages. Nonfiction
In March 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, loaded with 1200 passengers – Americans, Europeans and South Americans – plus 600 crew. Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. Zaandam became a top story on the news and was denied safe harbor everywhere as the world's ports shut down. With only two doctors aboard, few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and food and water supplies dwindling, the ship wandered the oceans on an unthinkable journey.
Even now, some three-and-a-half years after the events of the book at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, this was still a difficult book to read. My family and I love travelling by cruise ship, and it's haunting to think that we could have easily been among those who endured the hellacious ordeal aboard Zaandam. This work reads like a thriller, and the writing style lends itself quite readily to a movie format. The subject matter is spooky enough to make anyone think twice about cruising in general. Yet amid the terror and despair, you read of the optimism and heroism of a few individuals that literally saved thousands.