Grace Winter

Grace Winter is the main character and narrator of the novel “The Lifeboat” by Charlotte Rogan. At the age of twenty-two, Grace is a gentle, mild-mannered New York native who worries for her future. Of an upper middle-class background, Grace’s father has committed suicide after being swindled by his business partners. Grace, her mother, and her sister Miranda are left to fend for themselves. Miranda becomes a governess in Chicago. Grace does not want to end up in the same kind of position, so she takes to the society pages of the New York Times. There, she finds a photograph of wealth Henry Winter and determines that he is the one she will marry.

Although Henry is engaged when they meet, Henry and Grace quickly fall in love. Henry arranges to elope with Grace in London, negating his engagement to Felicity Close. Grace is eager for...