I'm not quite sure what I expected this book to be, but what I got was something quite different.
Sybil, a woman younger than her old-fashioned name would suggest, works at the Royal Institute of Prehistorical Studies in Greenwich and is living a quietly content life until her former university tutor Helen Hansen is appointed as a museum trustee and proceeds to interfere with Sybil's work and personal life. Helen claims part of Sybil's university research as her own and even steals Sybil's boyfriend, only to soon discard him because she'd got what she wanted - to hurt Sybil. Sybil suffers silently at first, resigned to Helen being the shining star, but soon starts to fight back & ultimately exposes Helen for the fraud she is.
The book is in 3 parts, "the snow", "the works", "the northern line" but you'll have to read it to find out what they mean!

Overall, this is an unusual, fairly quick read that reads more like a memoir than a fiction story & doesn't go quite where you would expect it to. It's full of little details that make you want to head to Greenwich to visit the Royal Institute of Prehistoric Studies (it doesn't exist but the Cutty Sark & Greenwich Park are worth visiting!).

Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.
#TheSnowandtheWorksontheNorthernLine #NetGalley

Review is based on an ARC provided by the publisher.

The story is about Sybil, who works at an institute in Greenwich. After an accident at the ice-rink her life isn't the same. Her boyfriend leaves the hospital where she is still patched up with her old nemesis from university who also turns out to be connected to her work from now on, too. So, Sybil has to go through a break-up while also having to work with the woman who stole her boyfriend from time to time. Not to mention that this nemesis is a fraud and Sybil plans to uncover her come what may.

This rather short book took me longer to read that I initially thought. It's mainly because I had trouble connecting with the MC, as well as the writing which wasn't often clear whether it was progressing with the main story or whether I was reading a flashback to a time before the accident. This latter is supposed to be a feature as the accident left Sybil with a head injury, but it took me while to understand this.

I thoroughly enjoy this book there was so many Easter egg hidden gems in it. As a Londoner at now living in Ireland I had flashbacks and fond memories , and reminiscences I’ve not had for many years. The Piction is of train journeys. Blackbird singing in the dead of night. The mystery and loveliness on museums. This book deals with theft on a personal and professional level. This book investigates betrayal and subterfuge.
I can easily see this being an excellent movie.
Thanks so much to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line - Ruth Thomas

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Sandstone Press and Netgalley

Hidden within the confines of The Royal Institute of Prehistorical Studies, Sybil is happy enough with her work - and her love life. Then to her dismay, her old adversary, assertive and glamorous Helen Hansen, is appointed Head of Trustees. To add insult, Helen promptly seduces Sybil's boyfriend. Betrayed and broken-hearted, Sybil becomes obsessed with exposing Helen as a fraud, no matter the cost.

This is a short book that should have only taken me a few hours to read, but it took me days to complete. This is partly because I struggled to connect with the characters and the storyline just never grabbed me. I found the characters to be lacking depth and the storyline was just missing action.

Rating 3/5

This has been a very interesting and quick read, expect a realistic story where you’ll feel part of it, because Sybil makes you feel connected to her story and wanting to know more.
We all have our life more or less on rails; the job, the personal situations, the friends… but what would happen if our nemesis returns to our life to mess everything?
Let’s be honest, Sybil hates the perfect Helen, so she has to fight for what she wants and don’t let her take everything she loves. It didn’t seem a fiction story if you think it coldly but something we all had lived when we were young, the rivalry with the other students to be the best and not being ignored. So, it was easy to like Sybil and want her happiness, feel attracted to her and miss her at the end of the story, believe me. And just a little spoiler, Helen will have a little surprise… This is not a complex story but full of details and sweet moments, to make you disconnect for a while and wonder if we have been Sybil once in our lifetime.
The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line is a little gem that will keep you reading all night. Ready?

Reading this book took me right back across the years to my daily commutes into London! Told with humour, Ruth Thomas captures the feel of working life and relationships in London so well.
Sybil is working for the Royal Institute of Prehistoric Studies when her old adversary Helen is appointed as Head of Trustees. To add to her misery, through Helen’s dramatic discovery of ancient grains in a hoard of Beaker people pottery fragments, she meets Sybil’s boyfriend Simon and promptly steals him away…
I empathized with Sybil as she tries to deal with the loss of her relationship with the (in my opinion) rather flaky Simon. This theme of loss is continued throughout the novel when grief is addressed with the death of Sybil’s grandfather and the friendship of her boss Raglan and his long term, now deceased, colleague Peter.
There were many times that I chuckled to myself throughout his book and I really enjoyed Sybils little foray into poetry as a way of moving on. In fact, a nice touch in the book is how it is interspersed with haikus:
I was angry with my friend,
I told my wrath,
My wrath did end.
With the constant themes of relationships, loss and finally revenge running through The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line I found it a really enjoyable read with characters I could relate to.

[This book is currently available to listen to on BBCRadio4]

This was just the right book to read over a cold weekend in lockdown! A light, fun and engaging read, and while I felt the plot regarding the head injury was obvious to the reader, it didn’t detract from enjoyment. I liked the ins and outs of the team and her housemate with the protagonist, and the characters were well written.

This is a light and amusing read and whoever thinks that books should be dramatic and loud to have an effect is wrong. A quiet book can draw you in just as easily and this one does.

The story follows Sybil who works at the Royal Institute of Prehistorical Studies (RIPS). She enjoys her job and her life, being in a relationship with Simon. However, an incident at the skating rink brings back into her life, her tutor from her university days - Helen - her nemesis. Sybil finds that not only is Helen appointed Head of Trustees at RIPS, but she also seduces her boyfriend, Simon, and so is left broken-hearted.

Without giving any spoilers away, you find yourself rooting for Sybil as she tries to find a way to revenge herself on Helen, both personally and professionally. Helen is a character who is so beautifully drawn that any female reader will immediately dislike her. From her introduction, when Sybil recounts her very first tutorial with her when she told her tutees to 'call me Helen', we can see that this is a woman who will always be more popular with men than women and doesn't she know it. The author also describes the other members of the Museum so that we understand all their quirks and their little academic jealousies. She brings us into a world peopled by those whose domain is the darkened corridors of the museum.

We walk side by side with Sybil as she puts herself together emotionally and physically and at the end of the book, we let her go, pleased with what she has achieved because as the old saying goes, 'revenge is a dish best served cold.'

Thank you to the author, Sandstone Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short read, but sadly it didn't live up to the intriguing title. The characters are very one-dimensional and lack depth, and I found it very difficult to get at all invested in the story. Most of the book consists of the protagonist stumbling from one awkward situation to the next, without any redeeming qualities of moving forward, learning from her experiences or any other plot development. Sorry, but this was not for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I finished this book in a few hours. Unputdownable.

The ending was so unpredictable or what would happen next.

Sybil, reunited in an accident, on an ice rink with her “enemy”. Who is an old university lecturer. The person who stole her boyfriend.

The story is about how Sybil puts her life back together both emotionally and physically.

It was lovely to see how the writer conjured up Sybil’s increasing lack of her grasp on things; the way the reader could sense her mind wasn’t quite in the right state after the accident.

The backstory, wasn’t over-explained or dragged on, another thing I loved.

I though that Sybil was a complex and interesting, yet flawed and beguiling person, all at once.

The few hours I spent reading this were well deserved.

Recommend it.

This is a subtle book, no big action scenes or romance, instead it’s all about the character of Sybil and I was fully invested in her.

Sybil is someone we can all relate to and as the story evolves, all the emotions that Sybil experiences I’m pretty sure we’ve all felt in some way at some point in our life.

I honestly had no idea where this book was going to go, although throughout, the author drops little hints that Sybil may be suffering more than expected from her ‘accident’ at the beginning of the book. Mixed with everything else that is happening, from her love life failing and having to work with Helen who she despises, you can see how Sybil’s life starts to unravel.

Whilst there may not be big twists or fast paced action, don’t let that put you off. I was so engrossed in the life of Sybil that it didn’t need any big scenes. She is the character for everyone – real, honest and flawed.

Overall this is such a lovely story with a main character we can all relate to in some way.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sandstone Press and Ruth Thomas for this ARC in return for my honest review. A slow moving but beautifully written book telling the story of Sybill life after her boyfriend leaves her for her nemesis. While not an action packed book, I really enjoyed this and found it to be a charming story.

I read this in a few hours which is a testament to how much I enjoyed it.
It isn’t chick-lit dramatic, you couldn’t predict the ending or write the plot and yet it was familiar and reassuring. Poetic.
The main character Sybil is reunited in an accident on an ice rink with her ‘nemesis’ and old university lecturer who ’steals’ Sybil’s boyfriend and the story is essentially about Sybil putting herself back together again emotionally and physically.
I loved how the writer evoked Sybil’s increasing lack of grasp on things; how you could sense her mind wasn’t quite ‘right’ after the accident. I also loved the backstory wasnt over explained or laboured on. Sybil was complex and interesting, flawed and beguiling all at once.
I really enjoyed the hours I spent reading this,

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of the book which I received in exchange for my honest review.
4 stars recommend.

I didn't dislike it. There's a strong narrative voice, and that shines through. But I did find the plot a little slow and hard to stick with. I would read this author again though, and would love to see something with more pace.

I have loved Thomas's previous novels but I found this a lot harder to get on with. I couldn't really relate to the main character and I found a lot of the museum sections quite dull. I enjoyed some parts but there really wasn't enough of a plot for me to maintain my interest with this one unfortunately.

I was drawn to this book by the title. It seemed intriguing and unusual and also I do love a book set in my favourite city but sadly it just didn't live up to anything really. It is a fairly dull story and not much happens apart from Sybil behaving a bit oddly and lurching from one uncomfortable moment to another. I actually started speed reading it about half way through just to get to the end to see if anything actually happens. The answer is sadly it does not.

It's one redeeming feature was it made me want to write poetry especially Haikus so for that I give a little nod of thanks.

This was a nice book. Nice is a good thing but it also isn’t high praise for a new novel. I will preface this review by saying that I am a huge Barbara Pym fan and it was the comparison with her mentioned on the book’s Netgalley page that made me want to read it. Sadly for me it lacked Pym’s humour which carries a book where nothing really happens along nicely. The author of this book tried to inject humour into it but it didn’t really work for me.
That said, I enjoyed it, I stayed up late to finish it and loved Sybil. I was disappointed that there wasn’t a great public denouncing of Helen but perhaps Sybil’s more subtle revenge is the cold serving we are told is best!
I felt there were very promising characters and situations that weren’t quite explored enough. I’d have loved more fleshing out of the time when Sybil finds herself out in the snow after the party for example and also a deeper understanding of her relationship with Raglan and his with Peter.
Thomas captured the atmosphere of the museum and offices in old buildings with all their quirks beautifully and the secret unpleasantness and petty jealousies of academic life perfectly.

This is a good read, a nice read and I’m glad that I have read it. But if you want plot driven high drama then this isn’t the book for you.

I really couldn't make up my mind about this book. On the whole I think it rambled somewhat and lacked depth without any real resolution. Some interesting bits and certainly, parts I thoroughly enjoyed as there was a touch of dry humour but then other parts just dragged. Having said that, it seemed quite real, set in an academic world where nothing moves terribly fast in an ancient history research environment! Some interesting characters but most without depth so I think this book fell a little flat for me but it did keep my attention of how it was going to turn out. I think it is worth it as a gentle unassuming story.

The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line by Ruth Thomas tells the story of Sybil, a woman working in The Royal Institute of Prehistorical Studies and happily dating her boyfriend Simon. When her nemesis and former tutor, the glamorous Helen Hansen is not only appointed Head of Trustees for the museum but also steals Simon, Sybil sees her comfortable life slipping away from her and becomes increasingly involved in exposing Helen as a fraud ,no matter the personal or professional consequences.
For a short book this took me quite a while to get through, mainly because I just wasn't interested. The characters lacked depth and were not engaging, so I had little interest in the outcome of the story. The plot felt flimsy and never really hooked my interest.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Sybil Wiseman goes skating with boyfriend Simon when she hits her head. Also at the skating rink, quite by chance, is Sybil’s old tutor – Helen Hansen – the successful, confident and attractive academic. While Sybil finds herself being patched up, Simon goes home with Helen which, to be honest, made me feel he wasn’t much worth all the anguish that seems to be caused later when it appears that Helen has discovered her new soul mate.

This is a gentle and humorous story. I liked Sybil and her colleagues at the Royal Institute of Pre-historical Studies. I think many of us would sympathise with Sybil, as Helen, an old nemesis, suddenly reappears to cause chaos in her personal, and work, life. Author Ruth Thomas sets the scene well, with Sybil recalling how she first met her old tutor, “Call me, Helen,” who was more popular with the male students than the female. Of how she tried to dampen her academic results and is always unpleasant with a smile…

Although a little out of my comfort zone, this is an enjoyable story. I sympathised with Sybil and thought the work setting worked well. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review. Overall, I would give this 3.5 stars.