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A review by jmatkinson1
The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe
5.0
The 10.35 from Manchester to Euston is a busy train and all of humanity is on board. Jeff is shy young man travelling for a life-changing job interview, Holly is a young woman flush with the excitement of starting her career, Nick and Lisa are travelling to London for a wedding with their two young children in tow, Rhona is worried about her daughter, so is Caroline. Among the passengers in the coach is Saheel, clever student but recently radicalised, his behaviour arouses suspicion.
This should have been the sort of book that I dislike, sensationalist and overwrought, but it's not. Staincliffe writes the book in two sections, the build-up and the aftermath, and both are excellent in their different ways. The characters and their interactions are carefully drawn, yes some are cliches but others are not and the microcosm of British society that can be seen every day on a train is realised. Even Saheel's family is carefully considered, his precocious younger sister, his destroyed mother. I particularly liked the way that the book didn't necessarily end on a happy note, it was just about how life has to move forward after tragedy and that restraint was appreciated.
This should have been the sort of book that I dislike, sensationalist and overwrought, but it's not. Staincliffe writes the book in two sections, the build-up and the aftermath, and both are excellent in their different ways. The characters and their interactions are carefully drawn, yes some are cliches but others are not and the microcosm of British society that can be seen every day on a train is realised. Even Saheel's family is carefully considered, his precocious younger sister, his destroyed mother. I particularly liked the way that the book didn't necessarily end on a happy note, it was just about how life has to move forward after tragedy and that restraint was appreciated.