I picked this book up after finishing the book Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton, which I had loved, and wanted a shorter, easier read to follow this one. It was also my kindle book, the one I read just before bed, another vote in favour of an easier read book. The People On Platform 5 by Clare Pooley did not disappoint me at all. The blurb for this book says:

Every day at 8.05, Iona Iverson boards the train to go to work. As a seasoned commuter, she knows there are rules that everyone should follow:

• You must have a job to go to
• Don’t consume hot food
• Always pack for any eventuality
• You must never speak to strangers on the train

Iona sees the same group of people each day – ones she makes assumptions about, gives nicknames to, but never ever talks to.

But then, one morning, Smart-but-Sexist-Surbiton chokes on a grape right in front of Iona. Suspiciously_Nice-New Malden steps up to help and saves his life, and this one event sparks a chain reaction.

With nothing in common but their commute, an eclectic group of people learn that their assumptions about each other don’t match reality. But when Iona’s life begins to fall apart, will her new friends be there when she needs them most?

The People On Platform 5 is all about the lives of a group of 5 very different people. All they have in common is the fact that they all take the same train into work each day. They have all made up their minds about what the other people on the train are like. Sometimes that opinion is favourable, and sometimes it is most definitely not. However, after one of the group chokes on a grape when they are travelling into work, they start actually talking to each other, and finding out that their first impressions may not actually have been correct.

This is a book about discovering that people are complicated, not always who they appear to be, or not always who they are trying to show themselves as being. It is a book about a group of people who are all at a crossroads in their lives, and who their friendships with a group of very different people help to resolve the conflicts in their lives. It is also a book about finding common ground with people, even if you think you have nothing in common with them at first.

Told from the perspective of a different member of the group each chapter, this is a rather lovely story. It is an easy-read, plot driven book, which lives up to its description as a heart-warming story. It is a great holiday read, and as mentioned above, I read it in the run up to Christmas and, despite the fact that it was not set at Christmas, it was perfect for me as a Christmas read.

I think I could predict a lot of what was going to happen to each of the characters, the author provided plenty of clues, and it can be very nice and comforting to see your assumptions about how the characters are going to develop proven correct. In any case, I wanted to know what happened to them all, and wanted to keep turning the pages.

Will I remember exactly what happened in the book in 6 months time? To be honest, probably not. But it was a very enjoyable read, and did what I wanted it to do at the time.

I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5, and would recommend it as a nice, heart-warming, easy read that would be great to read on holiday when you don’t want your book to demand too much from you.