It is 1951, and on a fine spring morning the 8.45 from Bristol to Paddington is preparing to leave. Albert, the driver, says goodbye to his wife with mixed feelings. Their seeming inability to have a child has overshadowed their happy marriage.
Jenny, clumsy but loveable, longs to make a success of her job in the restaurant car, but her tendency to get things wrong soon attracts the interest of Marvin, the steward.
The passengers - some regulars on the line, others making a rare visit to London - settle down for the journey. Some talk and get to know each other, some wile away the journey working or sleeping. But as they near their destination, disaster strikes . . .
In an instant, lives are changed and everyday concerns become trivial. In this dramatic new novel, bestselling author Susan Sallis relates how love and friendship blossom when strangers are brought together by tragedy.
