The following version of the book was used to create this study guide:Lee, Stacey. Luck of the Titanic. Penguin Random House, New York, NY, 2021. Kindle AZW file.

After Valora Luck's parents died, she was alone except for her twin brother Jamie, who had been away for a couple of years. Valora worked for a wealthy woman, Mrs. Sloane, and the two began making plans to be on board the Titanic for its maiden voyage to New York. Mrs. Sloane died before the trip began. Valora sets out to make her way to Jamie and then to New York on her own, believing Jamie will join her plan to become a famous circus act. When she tries to board, however, she discovers the Chinese Exclusion Act is going to keep her from disembarking in America. Valora sees her biggest problem as the need to get aboard the ship. She manages board by hiding among cargo. She immediately disguises herself by wearing a veil and making a show of being an eccentric widow.

Valora meets April Hart, a young fashion designer, who agrees to help Valora find Mr. Stewart, one of the investors with the Ringling Brothers Circus. In return, April asks Valora to wear some of her clothing and to help spread the word about April's line – the House of July. Valora also catches up with Jamie, but he does not offer the welcome she had expected. Instead, Jamie wants Valora to return to London. He claims to have no desire to perform again. Valora convinces him to make a wager with a promise to return to London if she loses. If she wins, however, she wants Jamie to help her gain an audition with Mr. Stewart and to join her in New York. The bet is literally a tie. Jamie, realizing how important this is to Valora, agrees to help. Mr. Stewart offers them a position though getting them into the country has become a tricky issue. In the end, Valora realizes she cannot force Jamie to give up his life to follow her dream, and Mr. Stewart agrees to take Valora and two young boys who have become attached to her.

During that meeting, something happens to the ship and chaos ensues. Some stewards tell passengers to go to the lifeboats while others send passengers back to their rooms. Most cannot believe the ship is actually in danger of sinking and some pray, gamble, or listen to the band while others fight for the limited positions on the lifeboats. Valora and Jamie manage to get all their close friends safely onto boats. However, Jamie, as an able-bodied man, is not allowed on the boats. Valora refuses to leave him, and they fight their way from the sinking ship aboard a chaise lounge until a lifeboat offers to take one of them. Knowing Jamie is near death, Valora insists they take him, and she watches the boat row out of sight. Valora does not survive.

As the novel comes to an end, Jamie writes a letter to Charlotte Fine, the wealthy young woman he has come to love. He misses Valora terribly but pledges to live his life now in her honor, embracing life as she had. He also pledges to continue to search for a way to be with Charlotte, despite the Chinese Exclusion Act keeping Jamie from entering America.