Book info

• Title Trains and Lovers
• Author Alexander McCall Smith
• Year 2012
• Genre Contemporary

Imagine you're on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: for Mark, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that faded into love; and Michael makes a discovery that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance. These are very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. And loving others, as one of the characters observes, is the good thing we do in our lives.

Thoughts

What a great concept for this book - four strangers meet on a train and share their experiences of love and life, but mostly love. They each have a very different story to be told, but each rooted in finding love and holding on to it. On the journey from Edinburgh to London, they recount their tales.

I had thought it would be a little more focused on conversations, rather than each story told mostly separately. They do weave in and out a little, but for the most part, they’re four quite individual stories being told, as though round a campfire. That being the case, it felt slightly unreal that such intimate details would be told to perfect strangers.

That can happen, I’m sure, but it didn’t feel like there was much of a catalyst to start the sometimes painful levels of honesty on display. However, if you can look past the fact that people don’t even make eye contact with strangers these days, let alone share their life stories, it’s a charming and ultimately hopeful book.

Rating: 4 / 5