Tessa Hadley’s The London Train is the dark horse in the race for the Orange prize for women fiction writers. And it is this month’s Spectator book of the month.
The novel has an understated, almost kitchen sink quality to it. Austen Saunders reviewed the book for this blog, and wrote:
‘The London Train is really two associated novellas connected by the themes of love, infidelity, and Bristol Parkway…Hadley’s loosely connected stories attempt a low-key exploration of how even people who have shared a home for years can be very much alone. No myths, just microwave dinners.’
Hadley’s previous book, The Master Bedroom, sailed in much rougher waters – examining broadly similar themes but at a brisker tempo. So, The London Train appears to be something of a departure for Hadley, if you excuse the pun.
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