One Moment, One Morning
Sarah Rayner
The Brighton to London line. The 07:44 train. Carriages packed with commuters.
A woman applies her make-up. Another occupies her time observing the people around her. A husband and wife share an affectionate gesture. Further along, a woman flicks through a glossy magazine.
Then, abruptly, everything changes: a man has a heart attack, and can’t be resuscitated; the train is stopped, an ambulance called.
For at least three passengers on the 07:44 on that particular morning, life will never be the same again.
I’ll be honest, the reason I picked up this book is because I liked the teacup picture on the front cover, and had a Waterstone’s voucher for Christmas. The reason I then bought it was a reviewer’s comparison of Sarah Rayner to Kate Atkinson. While One Moment, One Morning isn’t quite in the same league as Atkinson when at the top of her game, it is a moving and thoughtful story full of very real and often very raw emotion.
The story centres around the lives of three women following the events of that one moment, that one morning, on a train from Brighton to London. Lou sits and subtly watches the people sitting around her until a horrible incident happens and she watches a man have a heart attack and die. Anna is on the same train in a different carriage, and catches a taxi with Lou after it becomes clear their train is not going any further. Karen is Anna’s best friend, and in a tragic (but believable) coincidence, is the wife of the man who has just died.
Describing the week that follows, Rayner shows the reader the support and strength of female friendship, as well as movingly examining the pain and seeming unreality of death and grief. As you would probably expect from the subject matter, this isn’t a jolly read, but it never crosses into being mawkish or sentimental. The characters’ believability is what makes this such a good read; they are people you feel could exist. The dialogue between characters seems very natural, and their emotions very real. As so often happens after a shocking and traumatic event, the women look at their lives and are forced to face up to things that seem overwhelming. Whether that is how to tell your young children that their father has died, realising that your own relationship isn’t working, or that you need to be more honest and true to yourself, each character has something to work through.
One Moment, One Morning is a poignant and ultimately uplifting novel which takes something painful and weaves throughout it moments of friendship, hope and even humour.
Rating:
15 Comments
I’m part way through reading this at the moment- keep having to stop when I get too upset with it, but always intriguing enough to come back and carry on, just when I’m in a good mood!
Yeah, I definitely think it would be one to avoid if you’re in a sad mood!
I reviewed this a few weeks back – I loved it – it stayed with me much longer than I thought it would :)
I just had a look on your blog for your review. I totally agree with you about Karen and her children’s dialogue, which I neglected to mention in this review. I thought the rest of the dialogue (between adults) felt pretty real, but honestly. What three-year-old says “It’s Godmother Anna!” and please stop calling your daughter Molster.
I don’t particularly think this is an AMAZING book, but I still rate it just because the emotional element of it seemed to hit me right in the solar plexus, and like you said, stayed with me.
I didn’t expect it to keep coming back to me as it did – that’s what surprised me I think.
And yes Molster? Really…I don’t doubt that such a name may be used in a familial way but no don’t like it!
Thanks for having a read :)
Think I’ll have to give this a try- I like stories that are based on the consequences of a single incident so think I’ll like it! It sounds so sad though x
I’m currently reading this at the moment – I’m enjoying it but it’s too depressing! Maybe I like pulling the wool over my eyes but 262+ pages of grief, mourning and despair (accompanied by a few tears from myself) & it feels a bit dragged out. Perhaps that’s the the edge of the book. Either way I’m looking forward to see where the story goes.
I read it quite quickly (on a train actually, I was worried fiction would turn into reality!) so it didn’t particularly feel dragged out, but I can see why you might say that. It felt like longer than a week was covered in some ways.
I’m reading this at the moment; I’ve barely started but I’ve already cried. It’s beautifully written but I’m worried about reading it in public in case I continue to make a fool of myself.
I have FINALLY managed to finish this book… it’s taken forever for me to get through it.
It all started so well, but it really lost me after the initial drama. The writing was lovely and I liked the characters, but it just wasn’t pacy enough to keep me turning the pages. I kept waiting for something – anything – to happen, but it just felt like more and more of the same depression. The friendships were nice, and I did enjoy the changes Anna and Lou made to their lives towards the end, but there was a large chunk in the middle that I found very hard going.
I can see why you would think that. Because it’s not a long book I managed to polish it off on my commute on a few train journeys, and so I didn’t get that dragging feeling so much. I think had I not had chance to read it so quickly I might have liked it less, as really it’s not the paciest of books ever! Still, at the end of the day I did find it very moving in the end.
I read this book earlier in the year, and completely fell in love with it – although I too initially picked it up because I liked the teacups on the cover. Far more enjoyable than I first thought it might be! x
Sirens and Bells
I read this and quite enjoyed it. I found some of the descriptions a bit vom-inducing (like, as you say ‘Godmother Anna’), but I always struggle with chick lit-induced nausea. The story was good and I liked the concept of one event (albeit massive one) changing the paths of lots of people’s lives.
I finished this book yesterday. I enjoyed it overall and got quite involved with the characters, and loved the descriptions of the relationships and how they were all interlinked. The only thing that annoyed me (and it seems I’m not the only one!) was the way Karen spoke to Luke and Molly – “Come along, children”?! UGH.
I loved this book but would hate to read it while commuting as I cried heaps. I liked the relationship between Karen and Anna, but agree with others above that the parent-child and the children’s own language was not real, at least it didn’t sound like any 3 or 5 year old I’ve known.