Books set during train rides, do have their own vintage touch. Agatha Christie or Russian novels kind of touch, depends which geographical direction you look at. Although long inter-country train travels are back in fashion, at least in Europe, mystery novels set in trains need apparently more time to be published.
Until then, old settings written with a contemporary outlook may also help.
Like, for instance, The Continental Affair by bestseller author Christine Mangan. I´ve heard about Mangan before but did not have the chance yet to read her Tangerine, a bestseller turned into movie. Sometimes, I may be interested in reading the book after the bestseller, as it may show a different writing style, more relaxed and self assured, once the writer´ status officially confirmed.
Set in the 1960s, on the roads from Granada to Paris and Belgrade to Istanbul, The Continental Affair is the book of the apparent encounter between two apparent complete strangers: Henri, a former gendarme in Algeria, and Louise, a fugitive from England. They both do have a past they want to escape, but they may have to stay close, for all the wrong reasons.
It is a book for the well-travelled, the curious and the patient one. No matter what assumptions we make about the characters, only by the end of the novel it will be clear what we can think about them. Each detail of the circumstances is very important for the general understanding. Despite the fine character development, Mangan is also an excellent painter of travel ambiances and world, which recommends the book equally to the wanderlust reader.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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