On the other hand, Joe, whom Ellie meets in similar fashion, although pleasant enough, didn’t feel like a fully fleshed out character and I didn’t find myself as invested in their relationship as I did in that between Eliza and Alex. The relationship between Eliza Grey and Alex Levine that begins after a chance encounter on a wartime train journey had a real fizz to it, even if Eliza’s initial reaction is less than promising. ‘She had never, in all of her life, met such an arrogant, self-opinionated, curt and, quite frankly, rude individual.’ As we learned from Pride and Prejudice, first impressions can be deceptive. As it happens, the film is referenced several times in the book. The plot relies on large helpings of coincidence, requiring a belief in fate or destiny, and bringing to mind the oft-quoted line, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” from the film Casablanca. The story unfolds in chapters that alternate between Eliza in 1944 and Ellie in the present day. I’m familiar with the line from London Paddington to Penzance on which Eliza and Ellie travel from my own holiday trips, although never on the sleeper service. I was drawn to this book because of it’s partial World War 2 setting and, in particular, because elements of the story unfold en route to Cornwall. I would like to thank #NetGalley, #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter for my ARC of #TheNightTrainToBerlin I absolutely love Cornwall, a beautiful setting for any story. The pace is slow to start but it does eventually pick up. A love story of two couples decades apart. This is a lovely historical romance story. This story is told over a duel timeline - 1940's and the present day. They make a promise to each other: to meet in Berlin when the war is over. She's a gutsy painter desperate to get to the front line as a war artist and he is a wounded RAF pilot now commissioned as a war correspondent. Paddington Station, 1944: Beneath the shadow of the war, Alex and Eliza meet by chance. But when she meets fellow passenger Joe, she feels she's been given a second chance. Ellie Nightingale is a shy violinist who plays like her heart is broken. Paddington Station, present day: A young woman boards the sleeper train to Cornwall with only a beautiful emerald silk evening dress and a well- read diary full of sketches. Reading about the D-Day landing was heartbreaking, horrific and very graphic, the story is a tribute to a generation of brave men and women serving on the front line during WW II and five stars from me. I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review, and it's beautifully written by Melanie Hudson and she also wrote The Last Letter From Juliet. Both are caught up in situations that they can’t change, and they don’t regret meeting Alex and Joe, and if only they were both free to fall in head over heals in love. The Night Train to Berlin is a story about Ellie and Eliza being linked together by friendship, a cottage in Cornwall, Nancy, a small clock, a trip on a historic train, secrets, and fate. Eliza makes it to France, she’s a nurse on a hospital ship, despite taking care of people injured during the Blitz, and nothing prepares her for the carnage on the beaches of Normandy and as the allies slowly fight their way towards Paris. Alex and Eliza feel a connection, they spend a wonderful week together in Cornwall and promise to meet each other in Berlin. The people in charge don’t want women anywhere near the action, or involved with the invasion and are nothing but a nuisance. Eliza has been working as a nurse in London, she desperately wants to be on the front line and be a war artist. Leaving Paddington Station aboard the same train is Alex Levine, he’s an ex spitfire pilot and is now a war correspondent. Aboard the same train is Joe Burton from Leeds, they have a magical night of dancing to 1940’s music, for Ellie it’s a memory she will always treasure, that’s all it can ever be and due to her being born with a heart defect.Įliza Grey is traveling to her cottage Meadowsweet in Cornwall, she’s going home to think about her life, future and paint. She’s has her violin with her, a beautiful green couture evening dress and a diary full of wartime sketches. Ellie teaches music to children online, she can play the violin, guitar, cello and ukulele. It takes you from the pretty idyllic beaches of Cornwall and to the blood soaked beaches of France.Įllie Nightingale is on her way to stay at her Great Grandmother Nancy’s cottage in Penzance, in Cornwall and she catches a restored sleeper train from Paddington Station. The Night Train to Berlin is a historical fiction story with a dual timeline, it seamlessly goes between the present time and World War Two.
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