Why a Booktrail?
A collection of stories for everyone who travels or has travelled by train
Off Track
What you need to know before your trail
We all take the train at some point – and have taken many journeys in the past. Some of the older among us may even remember the days of the steam trains or be fans of the few which exist today. Train travel is another world – carriages or compartments, first class or second, snacks served on a passing trolley or via other more imaginative means if you happen to be in India….yes this collection of stories really does shine the spotlight on the glory of train journeys and the sorrow that can lie behind them.
People take trains for many reasons – returning home, facing up to someone, leaving someone, whilst others almost miss their stops because of people watching….but essentially this book is all about the journeys we take in every sense of the word…..
Travel Guide
From Newcastle to London via Helsinki and Goa
There are times and settings as varied as the train journeys themselves but essentially this is a book about the journey itself rather than the destination.
London
In Kindness /Friday Night Station Wives /Three Women on a Train all set in and around London. Paddington station – a bustling station with only a few minutes to catch your train not to mention the stress of finding your seat. What do you to get through the crowds? What do you do when finally on the train? People watch is the answer
Newcastle
The Homecoming -takes us back to Newcastle a for a sad and poignant journey:
“She loves the vibrant city – the air seems fresher and cleaner, the people are friendly and welcoming and her soft Geordie lilt has returned.”
Helsinki – Nykarleby
In the Homecoming: “It was November, the time of year when winter wrung the colours out of he city and all that was left was a monochrome reality” Nykarleby is the happiest place in Finland apparently!
Goa
In Train to Goa –
“The platforms in India are chaotic, large groups of travellers with their entire extended families swarming around in a frenzy of leave taking jostling and bustling with vendors with all kinds of snacks”
This is one of the most evocative and memorable train journeys of them all.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
So many emotions and depictions of why we take the train and how a train journey can make us feel
I don’t want to meet the person Betty does any time soon however but there were others that I feel I have – the person at the car park or the coffee shop you see at a regular basis and wonder if they have created an imaginary life for you as you have for them. That’s why The Girl on the Train has caught the imagination of so many I guess, it’s something we all do at some point. Julie describes it well when you get to know people on a journey and then you leave them behind – “A transient bereavement” I thought captured this feeling very well.
There are also some very sad reasons for train journeys such as homecomings and other personal reasons so the answer might be for everyone to head for the happiest place in Finland as even if the destination is sad “on the train life really is suspended like a vacuum”
And if you’v ever thought that the snack trolley never comes quick enough – read Shanthi’s story for an alternate version. The sights, noise and smells of this story just illustrates how each train journey is so different from the other.Across countries, across time zones and more, a train journey is a transient moment in your life – but like that old saying – it’s often the journey that matters and not the destination.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Off Track
Author/Guide: Amie McCracken Destination: London, Goa, Nykarleby Departure Time: Various
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