The Night Train to Berlin

Toot! Toot! All aboard! A 1940s themed sleeper train car journey from London to Penzance? With champagne and silver service? Sign me up.

This is an absolutely delightful dual timeline historical fiction featuring an epic romance set against the backdrop of WW2 and the rugged Cornish coast. Hop aboard! It’s a train journey into the past and you’ll be witness to love that echoes through time.

Paddington station present day:
As we journey along we’ll meet Ellie Nightingale, a woman in an emerald green vintage Christian Dior silk dress who meets romantic Joe Burton from Leeds. Having brought a book each to dinner thinking they’d rather be absorbed in a tale, they set aside their books and take a chance on conversation. It changes the direction of the rest of their life. Thinking they’d said their goodbyes on the train, they went their separate ways until fate and a note tucked away in an antique clock brought them together once again.

Paddington station, 1944:
The second story also begins on the Cornish Riviera, a sleeper train. A wounded RAF pilot, Alex Levine, takes a chance and strikes up a conversation with the lovely lady, Lady Arbuthnot, seated beside him at dinner. He soon finds out that she’s going to her cottage to paint and have time to make a life-changing decision. After disembarking in Penberth Cove, this couple, too, find a second chance at love. When war sends them into the battle as correspondents, the dream of meeting up again gives them the fortitude to continue.

Stuffed full of emotion with rich, engaging characters (including strong, intelligent women) set against the backdrop of WW2, you won’t want to miss this read. It’s extremely obvious that the author has poured her heart and soul into the pages; in every chapter there’s a giant hug reaching out from the pages. This is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time. I took the whole first day of my week off to deliciously savour every word of this incredible book. It took forever for me to find the words to express myself...and even then, they aren’t adequate enough. You MUST read this book - it’s historical fiction at its finest!

This is my first book by this author and I quickly added her to my 'auto-buy' list.

Thank you Melanie Hudson, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for this spectacular advance copy. I received it for free and am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

With grateful thanks to netgalley and melanie hudson for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
Firstly can I say this is my first time reading this author and hopefully not my last.
The night train to Berlin is a slow burning tale told with a twin timeline in the present day and in the 1940's.
A Tale of love and loss and about taking opportunity's when you can, seize the moment as one never knows if it will ever return. The love between Eliza and Alex in the 40's and Joe from Leeds and Ellie present day. A clock not working stuck at 3.15 pm what is the significance and a wonderful journal with beautiful words and sketches and paintings what do they have in common.
I absolutely adored this beautiful magical tale can highly recommend.

Already a fan of this author, this fabulous fictional read - a dual timeline historical fiction romance fest - is set against the backdrop of WW2 and the rugged Cornish coast. Could anything be more wonderful for a weekend read? The story takes you into the past and will demonstrates how love binds people together no matter of time or distance.
This book is absolutely dripping with emotion; warm, sentimental, yet strong, independent women who fight for what they want, are determined to make things happen and don’t care if they go against the norm. I couldn’t get enough of each characters story; I feel I feared the inevitable and I should have just enjoyed and savoured every moment just as the characters all do.
I love historical fiction and this book just caught me by the heart and journeyed me through time, I felt so caught up in the lives of these wonderful women that I was gutted when it came to the end. I wanted more!
The ending is one you can draw so many conclusions from; I think I will opt for the nicer, romantic happy ever after..
Highly recommended. I cannot wait for more from the author.

Take a train ride on a journey to the past. A dual timeline, 1940's and present day. A story of love, loss, and war. First book by this author and I loved it. Well written historical fiction. Thanks to net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for a honest review.

The Night train to Berlin is a mesmerising story of love and hope.
It has to be for me the best book that I have read this year. It is one of those books that when you have finished reading you will take it in your mind for a long time.

Who are you going to meet aboard, The Night Train to Berlin? Anything is possible when you stroll down the train aisle, in a to die for emerald green gown. I absolutely loved this historical fiction novel, set in a dual timeline, present day, and 1944.

Eliza a beautiful, independent young artist, also known as Lady Arbuthnot, is taking the night train to Cornwall. To have some down time, at her cottage along the sea. She meets Alex, a dashing bomber pilot, and the two hit it off. Creating a spark that cannot be extinguished, no matter how hard Eliza tries. Fast forward to present day. Ellie, a chronically ill, violinist, also on a train, bound for Cornwall. Is fighting her own battles, but hers are within her own body. Not being able to go out and experience what healthy people take for granted, She is off on a grand adventure! To her Great Grandmothers cottage, the exact same cottage Eliza was heading for in 1944. While sitting down for a 1940's style evening, she is sat with Joe. A man that catches her eye and her heart. The connections between these two women's lives makes the book even more enchanting, and the characters even more enjoyable.

The book hooks you from chapter one, and you are flung back into the trenches of WWII. Melanie Hudson is able to capture not only the emotion that is plentiful, when faced with the horror of World War II. She is also able to capture a softer side to the horrors. A wonderful friendship and love that begins aboard a night train, between Eliza and Alex. Also, a best friend who knows Eliza inside and out, Nancy. Both strong, independent, courageous women. Who want to do all they can during the war, and become nurses.

Everyone needs to get aboard, The Night Train to Berlin! It is a fascinating tale that keeps you riveted to the very last page, and keeps you wanting for more. I need more Eliza and Ellie in my life!

I am on a kick with excellent WWII fiction! This was another winner from Melanie Hudson. I have enjoyed her other books, and though she is a religious writer, the religion elements are very small. This was an excellent, unputdownable novel!