Doubleday, 2022. 272 pages. Nonfiction
In March 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam, owned by Holland America, was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers — Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew. Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. The world's ports shut down. Zaandam becomes a top story on the news and is denied safe harbor everywhere. With only two doctors aboard and few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and with dwindling food and water, the ship wanders 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.