I read and really enjoyed The Authenticity Project, the book Clare wrote in 2020, so I was really eager to read her new book, out 26th May 2022. It did NOT disappoint!

This is a book about not judging others before you get to know them and being open to friendship. Set in a commuter area of London, it features a group of people who catch the same train every morning and evening, never speaking to each other, whilst making up stories about each other.

I lived in West Dulwich, then North Finchley for a while in my 20s and worked at both a charity (publications assistants and then a publishing company marketing legal books, so could really imagine the characters in this book. (Possibly also Iona’s life in the 90s/early 00s; I was introduced to my teammates at a pub lunch, I’m sure that wouldn’t happen nowadays!)

We definitely recognised folk that we commuted with every day and it was a well-known rule that you never spoke to anyone. There was one exception perhaps, the late trains/tubes on a Friday night, occasionally there was a raucous sing along! The rest of the time you avoided all eye contact!

I enjoyed the idea that perhaps we should and could open up and start to talk to strangers and that we might be surprised at what happens. I particularly loved the character of Iona and her fight back against ageism and general discrimination. I’ll be recommending it to my Mum and sister and to anyone who would like to read something cheerful and life-affirming!

This was an easy, fun and quick read that I just couldnt put down. I was captivated all the way, it was well written with a funny and relatable storyline and well developed characters that were relatable and likeable. A very enjoyable read.

The people on platform 5 by Clare Pooley

This is the perfect book to settle down with on a Sunday afternoon, with a blanket and a hot chocolate.

Nothing much happens on the train to London except one day Piers while eating his breakfast chokes on a grape, this starts a series of events for the commuters which makes them realise that these people who you travel with every day perhaps know you better than anyone else.

On the 8.05 to London, Iona boards the train every day, she is an older lady (the kind that you want to grow up to be)and she takes the same seat with her dog Lulu, she is a magazine agony aunt - just don’t call her that! Sitting near her is Piers a yuppie type who has it all and when he chokes on his grape, Iona jumps into action and galvanises those around her to help save Piers- luckily there is nurse Sanjay to help.. Sanjay loves being a nurse but is experiencing panic attacks at work, but he has a crush on Emmie who sits close to them and is confused about her job and her ‘perfect relationship’ and then there’s David (he is my favourite character and who I think I am most like!) a man who people keep forgetting his name and is worrying about his dying marriage but when the chips are down David comes through..


It’s an intriguing idea for a book as a lot of people can relate to seeing the same people everyday on a bus or a train and giving them funny names.. I loved the book and it was quite heart warming I loved how all these commuters were strangers at the start of the book and friends by the end.. these people genuinely liked each other and were willing to help each other at really life changing events.

A solid book which is perfect for winter afternoon

#ThePeopleonPlatform5 #netgalley #contempary #cosy #train

This is a review so let's get the hard part out of the way first.10 stars. The rest, after all, is padding.
5 strangers meet on a train and their lives immediately intertwine with unexpected consequences.
This for me was the perfect read. A great follow up the Authenticity Project. No 'one trick ponies' here!
Perfect

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this as a relaxing, feelgood read, although I felt it not as absorbing as The Authenticity Project. The developing relationships between a disparate group of regular commuters was fun and highlighted how much we normally tend not to engage with each other in such situations. All the individual storylines are satisfactorily resolved by the end of the book. I have a set of customers who will greatly enjoy this lovely story.

I loved Clare’s last book & this was just as good. Clare is a fab author! Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I first came across Clare Pooley in her auto biographical writings involving going alcohol free, this is the first of her non-fiction that I have read and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be seeking out more

Having previously read The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley, I couldn’t wait for her second novel because I enjoyed the first so much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I was a little worried the second wouldn’t be as good but my word, The People on Platform 5 is incredible.

A moving, feel-good story that is literally laugh out loud hilarious in places and is an absolute joy to read. We meet Iona Iverson on the 8:05 train from Hampton Court to Waterloo in a story that takes you on an exciting journey to and from London in the most unexpected way. Iona is a little eccentric to say the least and as time passes becomes friends with a complete bunch of eclectic strangers that you can’t help but fall in love with too.

This is a story of hope and happiness that proves you definitely shouldn’t judge a person until you get to know more about them. The author manages to draw you into her world of incredible characters that you are literally urging on to do the right thing, but which is not always the case. There are so many wonderful, funny descriptions in the story that will have you laughing and nodding to yourself because you have done or think the same as the characters. The range of ages of the people on the train gives a little something for every reader of all ages to think about too.

The characters connection and conversations reminded me a little of those from Richard Osman’s superb Thursday Murder Club and of course if you enjoyed Clare’s first novel then you will absolutely love this one.

An incredible up-lifting, warm and beautifully written story that will have you wiping the odd tear away from laughter one minute to sadness the next. I cannot recommend this book highly enough and know already that it’s going to be as successful, if not more so than The Authenticity Project.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.