BRAVING STRANGE WATERS

BRAVING STRANGE WATERS
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 by SARAH HANKS

Categories: Friday's Fiction / GUEST AUTHORS / TUESDAY'S TREASURE

PLEASE WELCOME

SARAH HANKS

SPECIAL EDITION

FICTION FRIDAY

VIA

TUESDAY’S TREASURE

STORY ABOUT THE STORY

There’s Just Something About Steamboats

I first visited the Arabia Steamboat Museum while researching for Mercy Will Follow Me. In the historical storyline of my split-time Mercy series, an escaped enslaved character travels on steamboats, passing as White. It’s brought back in the third book of the series, Mercy’s Legacy, when Mercy’s daughter Liberty also travels via steamboat.

I hadn’t a clue the first time I visited the Arabia Steamboat Museum that years later I’d return, this time searching not for general information about that method of travel, but for specific information about that particular steamboat. Because when I envisioned Stella traveling back in time from her present-day cruise ship onto an antebellum steamboat in Braving Strange Waters, I knew she had to end up on the Arabia.

So, what’s the Arabia? Why is it so special? A typical sidewheel packet boat that traveled up and down the Missouri River in the 1850s, the Arabia’s claim to fame was its demise. It sank in 1856 when it hit a snag six miles west of Kansas City, and it went down fast, as if in quicksand. Within ten minutes, it had gone under. All passengers escaped safely, but the 200 tons of cargo on board wasn’t so fortunate. All those goods bound for the Western front were lost to the Muddy Missouri.

Over time, the Missouri River changed its course, and though many treasure hunters tried to find the lost Arabia (and the liquor reportedly on board), no one did until 1988 when five men found the steamboat buried in a cornfield. When they dug it up, they found the cargo perfectly preserved by the mud. They then opened the museum featuring the largest collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world.

Upon further research, I was intrigued to find the Arbia played a part in Bleeding Kansas, the border war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces over whether Kansas would be a free or slave state. Many say this conflict led to the Civil War. I did much research about this for my novel Fall Back and Found Me, and the concept that this boat carried both anti-slavery Jayhawkers and pro-slavery Border Ruffians fascinated me. Anti-slavery advocates smuggled weapons on board, bound for Kansas. This scheme was uncovered when a letter fell out of the Jayhawker’s pocket, disclosing the plans.

Were there other hidden activities we’ll never know about because they went as planned? As the Arabia stopped at ports in Missouri and Kansas, what else did this steamboat see? What type of people walked aboard? What secrets did it harbor? I could think of no better place to situate Stella as she sought to untangle the web of insecurities and fears she had regarding standing against injustice.

If you’re ever in Kansas City, take some time to visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum. And take a copy of Braving Strange Waters with you. It will be like walking into the book with Stella.

MORE ABOUT BRAVING STRANGE WATERS

Stella Lindy is supposed to be soaking up the sunshine with her bridesmaids on a bachelorette cruise to Hawaii. But when she hits the wrong button on the elevator, the glamorous luxury of the modern ship is replaced with the Missouri River steamboat Arabia filled with strangers—and a mysterious doctor informs her it is 1856.

Communicating through an antique mailbox, her friends on the cruise try to guide her back home before the steamboat sinks, but Stella finds herself caught in a tangled web between pro-slavery Border Ruffians and anti-slavery Jayhawkers. Standing up for what’s right in the face of peril and uncertainty might mean never making it home.

Braving Strange Waters is a riveting time-slip novel with memorable characters, exciting twists, and rich internal conflict that fans of Gabrielle Meyer will love.

ABOUT SARAH HANKS

Sarah Hanks is an award-winning author of Christian fiction in both the contemporary and historical genres. After spending over a decade mostly writing and teaching Sunday school curricula for churches in her community, she jumped into writing fiction full-time with her split-time novel Mercy Will Follow Me. She and her husband have nine children, a couple of whom seem to have inherited their mother’s love for playing with words and crafting stories. Though Sarah dreams of a cabin by the beach, the family lives jammed together in beautiful chaos near St. Louis, Missouri. She buys earplugs in bulk.