Available Formats
Paperback, Reissue
Published: 12th September 2025
Paperback, Paperback
Published: 1st November 2013
Paperback
Published: 1st November 2017
Trains and Lovers: 'writing as warm as cocoa - exceedingly good' - The Times
By (Author) Alexander McCall Smith
Birlinn General
Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited
12th September 2025
Reissue
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Romance
823.92
Paperback
192
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 15mm
Imagine you're on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another.
In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: for Mark, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that faded into love; and Michael makes a discovery that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance.
These are very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. And loving others, as one of the characters observes, is the good thing we do in our lives.
'His writing is as warm as cocoa, as cosy as thermal underwear, and just what the doctor ordered for cold winter evenings. Exceedingly good'
* The Times *'A charming, humorous journey of the heart'
* Woman and Home *'Warm, funny, poignant and touching'
* The Good Book Guide *'Really rather lovely'
* The Bookbag *Alexander McCall Smithis the author of the highly successfulNo. 1 Ladies' Detective Agencyseries, which has sold over twenty-five million copies. Since then he has devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world. These include the44 Scotland Streetnovels, first published as a serial novel in theScotsman, theIsabel Dalhousienovels, theVon Igelfeldseries and theCorduroy Mansionsnovels.