THE RAILWAYMAN’S WIFE by Ashley Hay

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

During the post-WW2 years on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, Ani loses her beloved railwayman husband Mac in a tragic train accident. Poignant narrative contrasts normalcy in Ani’s life with the devastation of Mac’s death and the end of their marriage that hits her like a hammer blow. As she grieves, she loosely connects with Roy, a poet who has lost the inspiration he found when he was a soldier in WW2, and Frank, a doctor who is haunted by memories of liberating concentration camps and being unable to save gravely-ill survivors. Ani, Roy and Frank have despondent bonds: the hole in Ani’s soul from losing Mac, and what Roy and Frank have lost of themselves during the war. The writing presents memorable, evocative images of the gorgeous coastline Ani and Mac grew to love, and almost a delicacy in teasing out damage caused by the war without recounting a single shell blast or battle experience. A keen sense of suspense builds as Roy develops a hidden infatuation with Ani, leading to a climactic clash with Ani’s sense of reality about her dead husband.