As the last train leaves, will life ever be the same?
Dorset, 1935
Stationmaster Ted has never cared much for romance. Occupied with ensuring England’s most beautiful railway runs on time, love has always felt like a comparatively trivial matter. Yet when he meets Annie Galbraith on the 8.42 train to Lynford, he can’t help but instantly fall for her.
But when the railway is forced to close and a terrible accident occurs within the station grounds. Ted finds his job and any hope of a relationship with Annie hanging in the balance…
Present day
Recovering from heartbreak after a disastrous marriage, Tilly decides to escape from the bustling capital and move to Dorset to stay with her dad, Ken.
When Ken convinces Tilly to help with the restoration of the old railway, she discovers a diary hidden in the old ticket office. Tilly is soon swept up in Ted’s story, and the fateful accident that changed his life forever.
But an encounter with an enigmatic stranger takes Tilly by surprise, and she can’t help but feel a connection with Ted’s story in the past…
My Review
A tale of love and tragedy, weaving both past and present in this gloriously sumptuous book that both delights and despairs.
I live close to the boarder between Devon and Dorset so it was like reading about home, making the descriptions of our beautiful countryside that bit more vivid, but even if I lived in a city I would still have been swept away to the seaside alongside Tilly and Ted with the writing that brings the words to life.
The characters are all brought to life before your eyes and as Tilly gets swept away with Ted’s story it is impossible not to get swept away with her. Both Ted and Tilly are extremely likeable so you become emotionally invested in both their stories and I will confess, I may have shed a tear or two!
Tilly is 39 which I really liked the fact she is a bit older and found her a lot more relatable being the ripe old age of 40 myself! (There may still be some life in these old bones yet 😂) Finding herself at her age back living with her father after the brutal ending of her marriage is not how she had envisioned her life turning out but with the help of her father she slowly begins to carve out a new life for herself. She takes on some research of the old railway station and its employees from 1930’s to take her mind off her troubles and finds old diary written by the old stationmaster, Ted.
Ted has worked on the railways his whole life and has been stationmaster for years, his job is his life. He was happy with being a 40 year old bachelor and a quiet life and then he met Annie. She is beautiful, clever and for Ted it was love at first sight. One major issue, he’s never spoken more than a handful of words to her! The other issue, she has just become engaged to someone else, and if that wasn’t bad enough for poor old Ted the train lines will no longer be running come the end of summer so he will have no job and no house.
This is a definite emotional rollercoaster of a read that will make you both cry and smile turning the pages at breakneck speed. It is a perfect summer holiday read for all fans of historical romances and other writers as Kate Riordan and Lucinda Riley, just remember to pack a handkerchief alongside it!
The Stationmaster’s Daughter is due to be published on 07 Aug 2019 and is available to pre ordered now.
Thank you to the author Kathleen McGurl, publishers HQ Digital and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.
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