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ecdereus's review
3.0
Het boek speelt in de jaren 1948-1949 in Thirroul, een klein plaatsje iets ten zuiden van Sydney aan de Australische zuidoostkust van New South Wales. Prachtige beschrijvingen van de natuur, de kleuren van het licht in de lucht en in de zee, en de sterrenhemel daarboven. Mac Lachlan, een employee bij de spoorwegen, komt eind 1948 a.g.v. een treinongeluk om het leven en laat zijn vrouw Anikka en hun 10-jarige dochter Isabella achter. Ani krijgt dan een baan aangeboden als bibliothecaresse in de plaatselijke bibliotheek. Met nu en dan een terugblik op een eerdere periode met Mac wordt Ani's leven en haar ontmoetingen met Roy McKinnon en Frank Draper gedurende het jaar daarop gevolgd.
De schilderachtige beschrijvingen maakten veel goed, maar het verhaal 'an sich' vond ik matig met een teleurstellend einde.
De schilderachtige beschrijvingen maakten veel goed, maar het verhaal 'an sich' vond ik matig met een teleurstellend einde.
mossflower's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
booksarebetter's review against another edition
3.0
I managed twenty percent before I dnf'd. It was nice writing with lovely prose but I was thoroughly bored and didn't care for the characters at all. 2.5 ⭐ rounded up to 3.
kiwialexa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
samstillreading's review against another edition
3.0
I was first attracted to The Railwayman’s Wife because of the cover (shallow, I know). I liked the melancholy feel of the blonde woman looking over the rough coastline. (I also liked her hat). It seemed to me a book of longing, of feelings hidden and currents running under day to day conversation. This is exactly what I found on reading the book.
The Railwayman’s Wife is not an overly happy book. Given the time (post World War II Australia) and the setting (idyllic coastal New South Wales village), you would expect everyone to be jubilant. Unfortunately that’s not the case for the main characters. Ani Lachlan is devastated after tragedy hits her close family. Nothing is the same and she has to adjust to being many things she never expected to. Roy McKinnon was a happy teacher and poet before the war changed him. Now he can’t teach, can’t write and is locked in an aimless existence. Dr Frank Draper tries on the sidelines to help everyone in his own abrupt way, but doesn’t get very far.
The book reminded me somewhat of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, in particular the first section. There’s a dreamy, filmy quality of the book that puts a distance between the sadness of the characters and the reader. Ironically, it feels like a train crash – you can’t stop it from happening and you can’t stop watching (reading) it. I felt for Ani’s pain and Roy’s sense of futility, but not to a huge extent. The way the book is written in the present tense (something that I can find quite annoying) didn’t make it seem real or like it was happening now, but long ago, back on a day far away. The characters felt like characters, rather than real people.
The book has some lovely lyrical moments, often related to train journeys through tunnels and across the Australian wilderness. It’s a book to ponder the questions of moving on after grief (Is it possible? Should it even be attempted?) and adjustment to the unexpected. It doesn’t offer any resounding conclusions, but is a dreamy book to ponder love and loss. I would have liked a firmer plot, but the quality of the writing allowed me to visualise the events and characters in the book clearly so I could make my own conclusions. Probably best read on a train with time to spare to think about this life.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
The Railwayman’s Wife is not an overly happy book. Given the time (post World War II Australia) and the setting (idyllic coastal New South Wales village), you would expect everyone to be jubilant. Unfortunately that’s not the case for the main characters. Ani Lachlan is devastated after tragedy hits her close family. Nothing is the same and she has to adjust to being many things she never expected to. Roy McKinnon was a happy teacher and poet before the war changed him. Now he can’t teach, can’t write and is locked in an aimless existence. Dr Frank Draper tries on the sidelines to help everyone in his own abrupt way, but doesn’t get very far.
The book reminded me somewhat of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, in particular the first section. There’s a dreamy, filmy quality of the book that puts a distance between the sadness of the characters and the reader. Ironically, it feels like a train crash – you can’t stop it from happening and you can’t stop watching (reading) it. I felt for Ani’s pain and Roy’s sense of futility, but not to a huge extent. The way the book is written in the present tense (something that I can find quite annoying) didn’t make it seem real or like it was happening now, but long ago, back on a day far away. The characters felt like characters, rather than real people.
The book has some lovely lyrical moments, often related to train journeys through tunnels and across the Australian wilderness. It’s a book to ponder the questions of moving on after grief (Is it possible? Should it even be attempted?) and adjustment to the unexpected. It doesn’t offer any resounding conclusions, but is a dreamy book to ponder love and loss. I would have liked a firmer plot, but the quality of the writing allowed me to visualise the events and characters in the book clearly so I could make my own conclusions. Probably best read on a train with time to spare to think about this life.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
annemariep68's review against another edition
3.0
It was an interesting story about the lives of people after WWII in a small NSW town- all of whom had different experiences during the war and all who were fighting their own demons. I liked the literary connections they made with each other- books and stories brought people together, but was disappointed with the ending. Lovely writing and descriptions of the sea and of a small coastal town.
suebee135's review against another edition
5.0
A poignant, post WWII novel set in New South Wales, The Railwayman’s Wife is the type of book you wish you could step into, if just for a moment, to make everything right. Some novels make it difficult to just sit back and watch…
Ani Lachlan, her husband Mac, and their daughter Isabel live in what Ani considers “the most beautiful place in the world”, a lovely cottage in a village nestled between the mountains and the sea. But not even this idyllic village can shelter its people from heartbreak and tragedy. Not the local doctor, returned from war but still haunted by the lives he couldn’t save. Not the young poet whose writing once flourished on the battlefield but is now uninspired and hollow. And not Ani, who turns to her love of books to find solace and healing after her own personal tragedy. Three people whose lives are connected in ways even they do not realize. One person whose life might be saved with just one word.
Beautifully written, atmospheric and haunting, my heart broke for these characters during their darkest hours, and cheered for them as they tried to find their way in this new world.
Ani Lachlan, her husband Mac, and their daughter Isabel live in what Ani considers “the most beautiful place in the world”, a lovely cottage in a village nestled between the mountains and the sea. But not even this idyllic village can shelter its people from heartbreak and tragedy. Not the local doctor, returned from war but still haunted by the lives he couldn’t save. Not the young poet whose writing once flourished on the battlefield but is now uninspired and hollow. And not Ani, who turns to her love of books to find solace and healing after her own personal tragedy. Three people whose lives are connected in ways even they do not realize. One person whose life might be saved with just one word.
Beautifully written, atmospheric and haunting, my heart broke for these characters during their darkest hours, and cheered for them as they tried to find their way in this new world.
kategci's review against another edition
3.0
I have been gifted a subscription to RJ Julia Bookseller's Signed First Edition club for the past 2 years. I have not gotten around to reading all the books yet, and I picked up this novel from April 2016 after finishing the sad The Grapes of Wrath. Well-written and award winning, this was not the palate cleanser I was expecting. I do not usually read the end flaps, but the book was blurbed by 3 great writers on the back of the jacket, so I took it on vacation. I am not a big fan of grief literature and how to remake your life in the wake of a tragedy, but Ashley Hay kept me interested. Set on coastal Australia in the aftermath of Word War II, Annika, the railwayman's wife of the title learns to slowly cope and adjust to change after her personal world is shattered, while being part of a small town coping with the return of lost and bereft soldiers and a doctor from World War I. Another worthy addition to World War II literature from a country and continent not nearly familiar enough to me.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. It was quiet, reflective and sad. I liked how it was written, sometimes it does not work but it did here. Maybe cos of the sad reflective style of it all.
Anikka is married to Mac. But something happens and shatters her life. She shares the story with Frank, a doctor who saw horrors in the war, and Roy, a poet struggling to write after the war. They all deal with going on with life, in one way or another.
The book jumps a bit, but just as I mind in some books, I do not mind at all here. It fits the style.
It's not a book where you should expect drama or fireworks. But it was still a book I read fast and could not put down. I would recommend it too and I feel like I should read more books set in Australia. I do always like them.
Anikka is married to Mac. But something happens and shatters her life. She shares the story with Frank, a doctor who saw horrors in the war, and Roy, a poet struggling to write after the war. They all deal with going on with life, in one way or another.
The book jumps a bit, but just as I mind in some books, I do not mind at all here. It fits the style.
It's not a book where you should expect drama or fireworks. But it was still a book I read fast and could not put down. I would recommend it too and I feel like I should read more books set in Australia. I do always like them.