Product Description

It is 1951, and the 8.45 from Bristol to Paddington is preparing to leave. Albert, the driver - whose father and grandfather before him worked on the railway - 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, where she 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 while away the journey working or sleeping. But as they near their destination, disaster strikes...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #333254 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
1951 and the driver of the 8.45 from Paddington to Bristol says goodbye to his wife with mixed feelings; Jenny longs to make a success of her job in the restaurant car where she attracts Marvin, the steward. And the passengers settle down to the journey but as they near their destination, disaster strikes.

From the Back Cover
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 while 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.

About the Author
Susan Sallis is now firmly established as one of the most successful writers of engaging family sagas. Her novels include the Rising family sequence, Summer Visitors, By Sun and Candlelight, An Ordinary Woman, Daughters of the Moon, Sweeter Than Wine, Water Under the Bridge, Touched by Angels, Choices, Come Rain or Shine, The Keys to the Garden, The Apple Barrel and Sea of Dreams. She lives in Clevedon, Somerset.

Customer Reviews

Time of arrival
People who start out strangers who are travelling on a train jouney, slip into comfortable and sometimes uncomfortable knowledge about themselves, and their travelling companions.
Staff on this train journey show respect for each other but also contempt for the positions of those in authority. Men who have returned to the train company they worked for before the war,now return to thier familular lives that were interupted by WW2, they have to work thru the changes in thier homelife as well. Things in ther home lives have changed but the thrill of the steam age still holds a mesmeric facination.
Passengers on the journey look at there lives and feel a sense of time to change.Others are looking for the answers which would alter there exsistence. All are thrown together in an horrific disaster. This set the stage for those who were thought to be the frailest to show there strength of character.The strongest are made to feel meek,and there are those who now look at life thru a whole new window.
Follow these intricate stories, feel their sorrow and joy. but above all, look beyond what they as people think are mundane about there lives, until the disaster changes them for life.

Don't miss this one
I have never read one of Susan Sallis' book before, but I shall read every one now! This book is a wonderful trip back in time to the romantic age of the steam railway. The book is so well written that the characters unfold beautifully and we learn about each one in turn, at just the right moment in the story. The characters are so beleivable I felt lost when I finished the book. This book has major feel good factor and will brighten up those drab Winter nights.

If you only read one book this year make it this one and you won't be disapointed!

An Ok read
I enjoy Susan Sallis books, finding them easy to read and she invariably introduces characters with whom you can relate and become fond of throughout the course of the book. Time of Arrival is not in her usual style and I found the characters quite unappealing, maybe because the book is set in the 1950s it didn't have the sense of history and romance that many of her other books do. I was disappointed by this book.