A Crown of Stars

 

Kensington Books

ISBN: 9781496751362

ON SALE: 02/24/2026

Available now for preorder

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A Gilded Age voyage. A legendary ship. An irreversible reckoning.

Based on the extraordinary true story of Rita Jolivet.

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A radiant actress at the height of Edwardian fame, Rita’s glittering career—and life—would be forever altered by one of history’s most infamous sea crimes.

 

Born into a cultured, well-connected family, Marguerite Jolivet grows up amid music, storytelling, and privilege. When she reinvents herself as Rita and steps onto the stage, her talent and allure propel her swiftly from London drawing rooms to West End theaters, Broadway lights, and the dawn of silent film. Producers court her. Society claims her. The future seems limitless.

 

But as war erupts and Europe edges toward catastrophe, Rita’s personal world begins to fracture. Her younger brother prepares to enlist. Her beloved sister, Inez, builds a life abroad. Summoned from Manhattan back across the Atlantic by family ties, Rita books passage on the Lusitania: the swift, luxurious pride of Britain’s civilian fleet—despite urgent warnings that the sea is no longer safe.

 

On board, the days unfold in a whirl of elegance: lavish meals, famous passengers, and the reassuring belief that speed, status, and civilization itself will offer protection. Yet beneath the surface, unseen forces are already in motion.

 

When the unthinkable happens, Rita must face an irrevocable moment—one that will test the meaning of survival, loss, and the cost of living through history’s turning point.

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Praise

“Fans of Lisa Wingate, Christina Baker Kline, or solid historical fiction, will enjoy this book from start to finish.”—Booklist

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