Lisa Evans is dead. She now exists as a ghost haunting Platform 7 at Peterborough station where she met her death at just 36. She has no memory of how she died, but as the novel progresses both she and we the readers discover the back story and we meet her family, her friends and her doctor boyfriend. Slowly the mystery unfolds. In the first third of the book Lisa is trapped on the station and can only observe what's going on – Platform 7 is in fact a known suicide spot – but the second, and for me most successful third of the book is her story and in particular her relationship with her controlling boyfriend. The last third of the book brings all the strands together. I very much enjoyed the whole book but there were elements that sat uncomfortably with me. Lisa’s life story is engaging and told with insight and empathy. The relationship with her boyfriend is particularly well done, and quite chilling. I found it easy to accept Lisa as an omniscient ghost-narrator – although you do have to suspend disbelief - and felt that overall the device worked well. I also enjoyed meeting the staff at Peterborough and exploring their day to day lives. However I felt that the supernatural element was overplayed and sat uneasily with the more gritty, realistic aspects of the book. I struggled with the idea of all these ghosts wafting around. There were also just too many subplots, which detracted from the main narrative and added little to it. And the ending was far too sentimental for what is essentially a tragic tale. Excellent writing, good characterisation, an acute ear for dialogue, and some interesting ideas - but too many ghosts.

Thank you to Netgalley, Louise Doughty and Faber and Faber for my arc of Platform Seven in exchange for an honest review.

TW: suicide, domestic violence, gaslighting
Synopsis: there's been two deaths on Platform Seven of Peterborough railway station. Surely they must be connected? Nobody is more desperate to find what links them than Lisa Evans, after all, she was the first of the two.

I'm sad to say that I didn't really like this book, it was my first Louise Doughty and not what I was expecting. It hasn't put me off as I loved the Apple Tree Yard series on tv so I'm sure I'll enjoy her crime fiction books but I didn't like the supernatural element, it was a weird way of telling the story and stopped me from fully engaging with it. I'll definitely try some more of Louise's books though!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows some very difficult subjects such as suicide, murder, and domestic abuse but it is so well written you can't help but keep reading. The book follows Lisa who is a ghost stuck at Peterborough Railway station at platform 7. At first she is unaware who she is and what happened to her but as you progress through the book you discover who Lisa was and what lead to her death. Lisa also follows the lives of some other members of the station staff and some members of the public, it gives the real sense that no one can be aware of what others may have been through or are going through. This is a compulsive read that is so beautifully written you will race through it in no time.

The concept for this book is so unusual and clever. The narrator is a ghost, caught drifting around Peterborough train station, trying to remember her life and make sense of her death, ruled a suicide by the coroner when she was believed to have jumped in front of a freight train.

As the story develops, Lisa begins to regain her memory and gets the ability to leave the station and explore the surrounding areas to piece her story together.

There are some beautifully written passages and the book covers some complex themes. The story is slowly paced but compelling and had me gripped.

There was one element that I struggled with. In the opening chapters particularly, and a couple of times throughout, the language used around suicide struck me as quite judgemental. It’s referred to a selfish several times. This was quite jarring in a book that deals with other complex issues, such as abuse and gaslighting, in a much more considered way.

That aside, a well written and compelling book.

DNF

I'm going to be a rather unpopular opinion here, but this book ended up not being the right fit for me.
I was expecting a much creepier story, since it's told from the eyes of a ghost.

Unfortunately, it just didn't hold my attention long enough for me to want to continue.

Oh WOW, This was just so different to what I’ve read by this author, and I wasn’t sure at first, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.
Recommended.

I love it when I go into a novel without the faintest idea of what to expect and then it confounds and delights in equal measure. That was Platform Seven for me. I’d decided to read it because of Louise Doughty’s previous work, so I requested it without even reading the blurb.

It starts quite slowly; all the better to build up a sense of wonder at who you are listening to and what her story is. Lisa is a very distinctive voice. It takes a while to realise that as you listen to her telling you what she hears and sees at Peterborough Railway station, you are hearing the voice of a woman who is no longer alive.

Platform Seven is a story about how this woman died, what is holding her in the station and how she realises that she has the freedom to do what she needs to.

Beautifully written, Platform Seven has depth and emotional resonance as well as being an atmospheric, contemporary ghost story that chills the bones.

Lisa Evans used to be a secondary school teacher. Now she is a ghost. Confined to the boundaries of Peterborough Station, she loiters around watching the passengers and staff as they go about their daily routines. One early November morning, she follows a man to the edge of Platform Seven where he steps off in to the path of an oncoming freight train. This is a journey similar to the one Lisa herself took not so long ago.

Lisa has names for all the people she watches and she passes her time by imagining their family circumstances. Doughty makes these characters spring to life as we learn from Lisa about the people working at the station, then the background to those committing suicide. As we hear about them, we watch the impact of the suicides on the staff in the railway station and on those from the emergency services who are called to assist. There’s a tension and drama to her story that touches the reader.

Lisa herself is more of an enigma, because, when we first meet her, she can’t remember much about either her life or her death. As she learns how to travel more widely though, we begin to find out a little more about her and her relationship with Matthew Goodison, a doctor.

Here Doughty’s writing excels as she slowly unfurls a picture that is both chilling and very disturbing. This is the truly haunting aspect of this story; one that stays in the mind longer than any ghost’s story.

Doughty takes her time laying out the true nature of their relationship and how Lisa ended up at Platform Seven.

This ought to be a dark and deeply painful book, but Doughty also has a lightness of touch in places which adds flashes of humour to an otherwise bleak scenario. Her writing is sure and sensitive and she brings a stark reality to her characters who feel so authentic. Though this is, at times, a difficult book to read because of its subject matter – and it is I think also slightly too bulky in the middle – it is nonetheless a book which speaks of hope and change and leaves us feeling a sense of loss and a ray of hope.

Verdict: A sensitive, beautifully written book about relationships, love, cruelty, and loss.

Louise Doughty is brilliant at writing about underlying resentment and the things we secretly notice about people but rarely articulate. I suspect she will remain best known for ‘Apple Tree Yard’ but her latest novel ‘Platform Seven’ is a very effective psychological thriller, and likely to be another commercially successful one too.

‘Platform Seven’ opens with the suicide of a man at Peterborough station in the early hours of the morning. The narrator is the ghost of a woman in her thirties, Lisa Evans, who was also hit by a train at the station and the bulk of the story looks at what happened in her life which led to that, specifically the coercive, controlling behaviour exhibited by her boyfriend, Matty. On the surface, Matty appears to be a charming doctor who cares deeply for Lisa. However, he constantly wants to know where she is, secretly checks her phone, is suspicious of her other friendships and blames her for everything that goes wrong. It takes a long time for Lisa to realise the impact this is having on her self-esteem, her health and all other aspects of her life.

Despite being told from the point of view of a ghost, the supernatural element is fairly peripheral to the story. Lisa is trapped at the station in a sort of purgatory observing the staff and passengers and gradually we understand why she is stuck there. The coercive relationship element is very convincingly depicted and I hope the book helps promote some awareness of this largely hidden problem. Overall, a gripping read which leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

Platform Seven is an unusual take on a modern ghost story. The novel opens with a man committing suicide by throwing himself in front of a goods train from Platform Seven on Peterborough Station. The station is largely deserted as it is the middle of the night and only Lisa, a woman in her thirties, tries to stop him before he makes the fatal jump. He can’t see or hear her however as she is a ghost, killed in the same way eighteen months earlier.
Lisa is our narrator as she tells us her story. In the first part of the book, just after the suicide she remains stuck in the station, just as she has been since her death. We meet some of the station staff as well as British Transport Police and get a glimpse into their lives. Lisa has got to know them well as she hangs around various parts of the station. She has little memory of her past life until she eventually is able to leave the confines of the station and move more freely around the city. From then she quickly pieces together the story of what happened to her and we learn a good deal more about what led her to her fate.
The story is much more than a ghost story however. Louise Doughty skilfully explores the nature of love and the danger of possession. There is a cautionary fable here too which explores the dangers of allowing things which feel wrong to rumble on without ever having the courage to face them down. Lisa knows that she was manipulated and that her vulnerabilities were ruthlessly exploited but did not act soon enough to escape the dangerous situation in which she found herself. As she tells her tale her ghost is quite open about admitting that there were times she could have acted differently if only she had the courage to do so.
Over the course of the novel we get more of a glimpse into the lives of some of the characters we meet on the station as well as learning more about the man who killed himself in the opening chapter. No one can see or sense Lisa as she moves around the city so she learns a good deal about them without their impressions of her colouring what they say and do. All of the people are believable human being with their own concerns and flaws. No one is perfect but most try to do the best they can for themselves and for others which gives them a real sense of authenticity.
I enjoyed the story and felt that by the end Lisa had come to terms with her fate and made her own choice about what to do next. Her final trip around the city gave a sense of closure to many of the vignettes we had seen as Lisa dipped in and out of characters’ lives. The grey ‘thing’ in the multi story car park which had been mentioned throughout the novel was beautifully imagined and the explanation was a neat twist in the closing pages and ensured that there were no loose ends.
My only criticism was that I felt that the middle section which follows Lisa’s relationship with Matthew was a little overlong (not unlike the relationship itself.) Given that there were so many warning signs which Lisa freely admits she chose to ignore perhaps this long section which could have ended much earlier was designed by the author to be symbolic of the relationship itself.
I would recommend the novel to readers who want a very different take on the psychological thriller. The story is strong and largely fast moving with believable and, mostly likeable, characters. Peterborough Station may not seem like the most obvious choice as a novel setting but, as anyone who has waited there will know, it is a very fitting place to start a tale that begins with a suicide and tells of a tragedy and yet is an uplifting and entertaining book which focuses as much on the redemptive power of love as on the devastation caused by death by goods train. Oh and there’s a ukulele band – what more could you ask for.

Platform Seven is Louise Doughty’s eighth novel. It tells the story of Lisa Evans, a recently deceased woman who haunts Peterborough railway station and spends her days observing the lives of the staff who work there and the passengers who pass fleetingly through each day. Lisa, a troubled young woman, died there 18 months ago after seemingly committing suicide by throwing herself in front of a train. She is now trapped in a sort of purgatory unable to remember how or why she died and unable to leave the confines of the station. One day Lisa comes across another troubled (and, we learn, much darker) soul who is also contemplating suicide at the station. She tries to save him but fails and his death seems to unlock something in Lisa and release her from hers suspended state. As her memory returns, Lisa relays the tragic story of intimidation, abuse and manipulation which led her to that ultimate desperate act.

Whilst I really enjoyed the book (as I have with all Louise Doughty’s novels) I have to say I struggled at times with the ‘ghostly’ element of the story; I enjoyed the little glimpses into the lives of the station staff and passengers, all of whom were very well rounded and interesting characters in their own right, but I guess my imagination just wasn’t open enough to allow me to believe that Lisa could follow people around, enter their houses and also sometimes their minds in order to know what they were thinking. However, the story Lisa gradually remembers and recounts for us is desperate, harrowing and totally believable. Doughty’s descriptions of the way Lisa’s boyfriend would focus on her weaknesses and insecurities in order to undermine her confidence and make her believe that she was the unreasonable, paranoid and obsessive one was compelling and very chilling to read.

Ultimately my struggle with the supernatural elements of the book didn’t detract from the moving story at its heart and I would thoroughly recommend this intelligent, original and acutely observed novel.

Contains some mild and possibly helpful spoilers

Platform Seven by Louise Doughty is an incredibly ambitious novel. At its most basic, it is an exploration of a coercive relationship, but it has plenty to say about the value of life and the lives of individuals and the communities in which they live and work. Most audaciously, the narrator is dead, which makes Doughty literally a ghost writer. There are times when the resulting book rivals anything else I will read this year, and even when the novel stumbles there is plenty to consider.

The plot falls into four main phases. The first sets up the concept, with the ghost of Lisa Evans hanging around Peterborough station. We don’t know why she is there (she can’t remember) or what she can do: her boundaries are both well- and ill-defined. She can’t, at the start, leave the station nor can she really interact with the living. We are intrigued, and we learn heaps about what really happens behind the scenes and what the lives of the station staff are like. Doughty doesn’t need to spell it out but she uses Evans’ ghostly nature as an elaborate metaphor for the human spirit. Evans is an engaging and witty narrator with matter-of-fact views about relationships and slightly self-deprecating remarks about cornflakes and Ryanair. She comes across as a perceptive and articulate everywoman, and we like her and the majority of the other characters. If the ghostly rules of engagement aren’t exactly defined, Doughty has some parallels to do with time-bending (when the clocks go back and forward) or dawn blurs into a new day. It’s not entirely convincing – unlike the accounts of the working of the station which seem utterly realistic – but it’s charming and we’re more than happy to go along with it.

But by the end of the second phase, the what has been set out, even if we don’t know the how and the why. We realise that the link between Evans and a suicide victim is not quite what it seems. Evans has realised that her former boyfriend, Matty, is responsible for her death. The third phase explores the relationship between Lisa and Matty. We know Matty is not a good man, which in some ways blunts the description of coercive control (by the time each episode of abuse occurs we’re already braced and waiting) but which leaves Doughty free to consider other types of power in relationships, including the ever-harrowing subject of child abuse. (Doughty tackles it extremely carefully: indeed it is not really described though the consequences for the victims are.)

There are some really biting moments here. Lisa’s own personal philosophy is to embrace contentment – she was quietly happy before Matty’s arrival and there is an undercurrent through which we are asked why we tolerate the Matties in our midst. (And we are shown how to spot them.) Lisa didn’t have the measure of him at the time, but now says, of the moment the police tell him of her death,

He believed himself to be a man who, through no fault of his own, had suffered a terrible bereavement.

A sentence that works on so many levels it is practically a multi-storey car park.

Finally, Doughty wraps things up. By that I mean that she explores how different characters have reacted or will react to the various events of the story. That might sound a bit basic, but Doughty makes it anything but. Despite the supernatural elements of the novel, Platform Seven is all about people making sense of their surroundings or situation, getting on, getting by, following a path or designing one for themselves. The range of characters before us is carefully assembled and we watch them all search for the thrilling within the mundane. Lisa herself needs to come to terms with her situation but the denouement doesn’t quite work for me. I am not sure why. Lisa absolutely owns the right to make the decision she does, and it’s in character. If pushed, I think it is because her declaration about it is triumphant which is understandable but jarring. I wonder if that’s what Doughty had in mind: to make us realise that we judge the outsider, the sad-hearted and even the dead. Instead of rushing to criticise, we should take joy in the vibrant and vivid colour of carrots.

I really liked Platform Seven. I think you have to be prepared to engage with it and you won’t agree with it all. But it’s definitely worth a go. And you’ll always look out for Peterborough on the railway map.

Not my usual genre of book.

However the basis of the book was much the same of a normal mystery book.

Loved the plot and the little twist and the way the thoughts and feelings others had where written. It was very on point with depression and domestic mental abuse cases. A good solid read and would define recommend.

Thank you for allowing me an advance of this book.

I must admit, this is not my usual type of book and at one stage very early on in the book I was ready to give up, but something really intrigued me and so I persisted and I am really glad I didn’t give up.

The story is mainly set on platform 7 at Peterborough railway station and is told from the point of view of a lady named Lisa, who is in fact a ghost/ spirit and is trapped within the station perimeter, the setting of which she died.

The book explores a lot of issues, including the very different lives of several characters that both frequent and work at the station as well as how Lisa herself came to find herself in the situation where she took her own life. Getting the whole picture of how Lisa came to find herself in the situation she did is really gripping and pieces everything together.

I was slightly disappointed by the ending and feel something more could have been done to bring everything to a conclusion. That said i did find this a very good read and really intriguing.

I did enjoy this book a lot but I found myself slightly disappointed with the ending. At first I found it hard to wrap my head around the fact that Lisa was actually a ghost but once I worked that through I really got into the story and was gripped by what happened. I thought the author's depiction of gaslighting and emotional abuse was incredible - it really made me think about the behaviour of certain people I know - and the small ways that the abuse gets bigger and bigger. However, I felt that the story petered out a little at the end.

Platform Seven is Ms Doughty's ninth thriller and this time the paranormal plays a substantial part in the story as our narrator is actually a ghost. It's a very dark and unsettling read with a real sense of mystery and a fiendishly twisty narrative full of surprises. It broaches some important issues sensitively and compassionately too and given that we rarely see the issue of suicide depicted in a fictional manner (although Peterborough Station is very much real) I thought it was brave and admirable. The atmosphere was built up until it became quite oppressive and the story genuinely chilling. I rarely get rattled by a book, but Doughty has penned a disturbing ghost tale that really got under my skin. Despite this, it was a compulsively readable and exquisitely written tale that deserves a wide readership.

The unnerving story follows two suicides that have taken place on Platform Seven and the impact that they had on not only the family and friends of the victims but all of the people involved including station staff, police and medical professionals. Sadly, as with all things, these deaths are only present in people's minds for a short time and then he busyness of the station and everyday life once again takes over. The narrative also touches on Lisa's experience at the hands of an abusive partner; it's not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination because of the potent topics it explores, but somehow the feeling of hope is still alive and kicking despite this. Overall, Platform Seven is an emotional story with characters that leap off the pages and into your heart and a plot that is as original as it is gripping. Many thanks to Faber & Faber for an ARC.

I've not read Louise Doughty before, but always heard about Apple Tree Yard, so I definitely was interested in this one.
It was an interesting story from the beginning, and it was very well written. When I started, I was in awe of the writing, which we don't generally get this level in thrillers. I'd like to call it more of a literary thriller.
The story has also the feeling of spookiness, and supernatural. So, perfect read for October :)
I really enjoyed Doughty's writing and the suspense. Read with interest and overall enjoyed this book a lot.

Thanks a lot NetGalley and the publisher for this copy . in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this was something a little different from my usual reads. We start in the wee small hours on Platform 7 of Peterborough railway station where a man debates his death. We cut to Lisa, a young woman who knows what he is about to do and is desperate to prevent him from carrying it out. She fails. This makes two fatalities on the same platform within the past 18 months. Lisa being the first. And so begins a rather strange tale, told by Lisa, about the impact that suicide has brought to those affected, as well as what has driven the deceased to take their own lives. In Lisa's case, her relationship with a coercive partner is highlighted and this throws up some doubt. Initially trapped within the bounds of the station, we follow Lisa as she starts to remember, at the same time as being able to leave the vicinity of the station as she follows certain people in order to understand both what happened to her and how it has affected and impacted on many people's lives, especially those of the children of the latest fatality.
This book contain so much more than I can ever touch on in a review. Mostly due to spoilers, but also due to the fact that each element follows the previous in such a way that to even hint at what is to come would ruin the impact that each so richly deserves if discovered as the author intends.
Suffice to say that there are some quite hard hitting topics contained within the pages of this book. Some much more shocking than others but all handled in exactly the right way.
Telling the story through the "eyes" of a ghost is quite a novel concept for me and it worked very well. Lisa's ability to sneak around and eavesdrop allowed her entry to places where other characters wouldn't have been able to go. Obviously her interaction was limited but this allowed the author to both build up and peel off layer upon layer until certain emotions were laid bare.
As already mentioned, there were quite a lot of important topics mentioned throughout this book. Love, hate, isolation, loneliness, to name but a few. For me however, the sheer number of such topics included meant that their individual impacts were somewhat diluted. Maybe the author meant this to be as such but, for me, it meant that I was never quite satisfied with each as a separate entity, some things being a bit glossed over. But, when taken as a whole, the book worked well overall.
It's a slow burn initially as there is quite a bit of scene setting but, having done that, the rest of the book flowed well and left me satisfied at its conclusion. If you are finding it a bit slow, please persevere, it is worth it in the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I've never read Louise Doughty before, only seen Apple Tree Yard on telly. I pounced on the opportunity to read this though as I recognised the author, then I read the description of the storyline and was hooked from thereon.

An interesting angle for the storyline I thought and found it intriguing to see where this would go. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and would recommend this book with it's spooky twist.

The story goes in 2 directions, 1 being the people watching of Lisa Evans at Peterborough's train station and then 2 to the story of Lisa Evans and what brought her to be people watching at Peterborough Train Station.

You can't help but to be brought in to the story. I was eager to see how the book would end and it was a surprise to me but I won't say how as you'll have to read it to find out.

The story starts off at Peterborough train station where Lisa watches as someone takes their own life.
She knew what he was going to do as she has been stuck at the station since she died there.
This is not really a ghost story as you are listening to Lisa’s thoughts throughout the book so there is nothing creepy about it.
Lisa can’t move from the station so she becomes fascinated with some of the train station employees and transport police nearby.
We learn about the lead up to her death and about her relationship with Dr Matthew Goodison.
Parts of the book had me hooked but overall I just wanted to get to the part where we learn what happened on the night Lisa died.
The other parts of the story didn’t really hold my attention.
Thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a very sad but quite beautiful story, centred on Peterborough Railway Station. It is about the people who work at the station, their working and personal lives, narrated for the most part by a ghost. A lot of the book is a relationship drama detailing the life and events that led up to a thirty six year old woman becoming the ghost that haunts the railway station.

A quite original story, so heartbreaking that I actually found it quite difficult to read at times, about relationships (not just of the romantic variety), life and, of course death. An excellent read but, despite the little flashes of wry humour, it might be a good idea to have some tissues handy.