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Holding a Piece of History: The Grand Staircase

Clare holds a proof copy of The Titanic Test, while I hold her family's priceless treasure.

I never imagined that one day I would hold a piece of the Titanic's grand staircase. When I did, the moment was almost spiritual. It was like I could feel the people's hands who gripped it as the ship foundered–as if I could sense the horror that surrounded it on the night of April 15, 1912. But also like I could visualize the moments when that staircase hosted the who's who of the times, dressed for dinner in their finery.

How did I get this honor? One only need write a time travel book in which a teenage girl from Malibu is sent back in time to the Titanic as a high school test. And then, most importantly, tell a friend about it . . . a friend whose great-grandfather happened to be the engineer on a ship that rushed to the site of the disaster in 1912 and who found a piece of floating wood that then would be carved into a picture frame. That frame would be passed down for generations.

The pictures are of Clare's great grandmother and great-great uncle, both of whom died too young. The family felt it appropriate for them to occupy the frame,

This rendering shows the Titanic's sweeping Grand Staircase.

The pictures are of Clare's great grandmother and great-great uncle, both of whom died too young. The family felt it appropriate for them to occupy the frame,

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Is the too-good-to-be-true piece of history just that–too good to be true? Not according to PBS, who ran a show on the artifact in 2012. The show's team confirmed that the tree from which the item was made was, in fact, Irish. They confirmed that the carver whose other carved artifacts sit in a Titanic museum in Halifax was indeed the creator of this piece. This bit of wood is actually a genuine piece of the Titanic. And I couldn't have been more honored that my book, The Titanic Test: A Love Story, brought it to my home and into my hands.

I am so grateful to my friend, Clare Martorana, for sharing her family's amazing treasure. I am also grateful for all of you, who, like me, have a sense of history and the special place the Titanic occupies in it.