The People on Platform 5: A feel-good and uplifting read with unforgettable characters from the bestselling author of The Authenticity Project

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The People on Platform 5 is Clare's second novel, inspired by her fascination with inventing stories about her fellow passengers on her commute to work. It might all seem a bit fairytale-ish but is there really a bad thing? Not even a little bit; frankly I love the idea that you can find just the right people to help you, that they all end up overcoming any reluctance they have to form bonds with people they’ve only ever cursorily nodded at, and that they form the kind of supportive grouping capable of turning lives around. The fantastic cast of eclectic characters will steal your heart & have you rooting for their happy endings' A feel-good read, with great characters to care about, it takes current issues seriously but adds plenty of humour Choice

Every day at 8:05, Iona Iverson boards the train to go to work. As a seasoned commuter, she knows there are rules that everyone should follow: Rather cleverly too, the way in which these characters come together is not instantaneous; rather they take a while to let down their barriers, to actually come around to the idea that not saying “Hi” to a fellow commuter but becoming involved in their lives isn’t a bad thing, and it gives The People on Platform 5 an emotional heft and substance that makes the ending that follows feel well-deserved and truthful.Get ready to hop onboard this summer's unmissable book - the perfect feel-good and heart-warming read. Working for a woman's magazine, Iona grew popular over the years due to advice given to those struggling with life. In her 50s, she'd lived with her long time partner, Bea, who began to suffer with early Alzheimer symptoms and was eventually placed in a home. Her editor decides the magazine needs to attract a younger demographic and soon she's put on notice. This book is bursting with the kindness of strangers, and I was bursting with hope by the end of it * Jenny Bayliss * I loved meeting the people on platform 5 - a delightful story about connection and friendship in a disconnected world Marianne Cronin, author of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting" by Clare Pooley is a story about perceptions, kindness, and friendship! When the manspreader chokes on a grape one morning, Sanjay, a young anxious nurse comes to the rescue after Iona calls for help. That one event unites five of the commuters. Take Piers, for instance, a hedge fund trader who initially comes across as a man in full control of his bombastically expressed and rather overblown life as a hardcore, take-no-prisoners denizen of London’s financial district but who, over the course of The People on Platform 5 is revealed as someone struggling with a slew of issues that do not match the impressions others have of him.Clare Pooley has found a delightful way to bring home the point that we need each other Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author Iona is a larger-than-life “ex” influencer who still influences. She tall, noticeable, and not at all apologetic. She sits in the same train car every morning, sees the same commuters, and has pet names for them all like “Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader” (if you commute, you know of whom she’s speaking) and Terribly-Lonely-Teenager. Anyone who has commuted for years, at the same time on the same train will see the same people. And of course, who cannot resist the allure of giving them pet names. What’s fun is that they all have pet names for her as well. This beautifully-written story, which rather audaciously dares to imagine what might happen if regular commuters on the same train line in London dared to actually speak to each other, is like a tonic for the soul because not only does it bring a number of lost big city souls into the kind of nurturing found family they all desperately need, but it does so in a way that helps them answer some big questions in their life and take some pretty positive steps forward. You will absolutely fall in love with Iona and Emmie and Sanjay and Martha and Piers and Jake and David. You will wish you could spend time with them on their commute and be part of their precious, special group.