Synopsis: In 1875, a row of tiny cottages stands by the tracks of the newly built York-Doncaster railway… Railwayman Tom Swales, with his wife and five daughters, takes the end cottage. With no room to spare in the loving Swales household, the eldest daughter Mary accepts a position as housemaid to the nearby stationmaster. There she battles the daily grime from the passing trains – and the stationmaster’s brutal, lustful nature. In the end, it’s a fight she cannot win. In shame and despair, Mary flees to York. But the pious couple who take her in know nothing of true Christian charity. They work Mary like a slave – despite her heavy pregnancy. While she find sanctuary with the York Quakers, Mary’s spirit is nearly broken. Can she find the strength to return home to her family? Will they accept her? And what of her first love, farmer’s son Nathaniel? Mary hopes with all her heart that he will still be waiting…

Review: The Railwayman’s Daughter follows the gruelling journey of Mary Swales and the winding turns her life takes. Mary is depicted as a warm character, one’s whose strength and serenity can only be admired, juxtaposed with the cruel brutality of the stationmaster for who she works. There are some incredibly emotional and heartbreaking scenes in the book and it is the hope that Mary will be reunited with her true love Nathaniel that keeps the story moving. However, while this book has a lot of potential with an interesting plot and likeable characters, it is rather jumpy and the pace isn’t quite there. It appears unbalanced with long descriptive passages and a slow start, followed by what seemed, a rather hasty ending. A few adjustments and a quicker pace would have made this a good read.

2007-04-05