About The London Train
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 24, 2011)
Long-listed for the Orange Prize
Unsettled by the recent death of his mother, Paul sets out in search of Pia, his daughter from his first marriage, who has disappeared into the labyrinth of London. Discovering her pregnant and living illegally in a run-down council flat with a pair of Polish siblings, Paul is entranced by Pia’s excitement at living on the edge. Abandoning his second wife and their children in Wales, he joins her to begin a new life in the heart of London.
Cora, meanwhile, is running in the opposite direction, back to Cardiff, to the house she has inherited from her parents. She is escaping her marriage, and the constrictions and disappointments of her life in London. But there is a deeper reason why she cannot stay with her decent Civil Service husband—the aftershocks of which she hasn’t fully come to terms with herself.
Connecting both stories is the London train, and a chance meeting that will have immediate and far-reaching consequences for both Paul and Cora.
About Tessa Hadley
Tessa Hadley is the author of The Master Bedroom, Sunstroke and Other Stories, Everything Will Be All Right, and Accidents in the Home. Sunstroke and Other Stories was a New York Times Notable Book of 2007, and Accidents in the Home was long-listed for The Guardian’s First Book Award. She lives in Cardiff, Wales, and teaches literature and creative writing at Bath Spa University.
Tessa’s Tour Stops
Tuesday, May 24th: Write Meg
Thursday, May 26th: Reading on a Rainy Day
Friday, May 27th: Caribousmom
Wednesday, June 1st: Books Like Breathing
Thursday, June 2nd: Book Reviews by Molly
Tuesday, June 7th: Bookstack
Tuesday, June 14th: The House of the Seven Tails
Thursday, June 16th: Book Club Classics!
Thursday, June 16th: Book Chatter
Monday, June 20th: Rundpinne
Wednesday, June 22nd: A Bookish Way of Life
Thursday, August 25th: In the Next Room