Let the Bells Ring Out

LoveReading Says

It’s not Christmas unless I’ve read a Milly Johnson book, and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. If ever there were a literary equivalent of being snug as a bug in a rug, this is it. Warm, comforting, gloriously escapist and guaranteed to leave you feeling fuzzy inside.

It’s 23rd December, and snowflakes are falling on the windscreen of Vincent Diamond’s cab as he drives Elizabeth Dudley from Reading to Durham, inadvertently eavesdropping on her distinctly unhappy conversations with her fiancé, Gregory. Elsewhere, a collection of equally troubled travellers are attempting to make their way home for Christmas.

Planes, trains and automobiles. Or rather, a catalogue of travel disasters, abandoned plans and Christmas dreams disappearing. Fast. With their journeys derailed, seven strangers find themselves thrown together in the waiting room of Derringbury railway station. It’s like something straight out of Brief Encounter.

An elderly lady with a distinctly Miss Marple-esque air, a middle-aged couple, a young woman in a fluffy pink teddy bear coat, Jeep Man, the Princess and her chauffeur-like cabbie. Quite the motley crew.

And then, as if Christmas itself has decided to intervene, along comes the Yorkshire Belle, a magnificent steam-hauled luxury sleeper train, diverted from its journey to Scotland to rescue our stranded passengers and take them to Eskford. It makes the Orient Express look like a cattle truck. Old-fashioned glamour, luxurious interiors and festive splendour. I’ve always wanted to travel on a Pullman train, so at this point I was all in.

Seven strangers, each with their own hopes, dreams, secrets, sorrows and skeletons rattling around in the closet. As the snowflakes fall, they begin to get to know one another. Breadcrumbs are dropped, truths gradually uncovered, defences lowered and hearts laid bare. Everyone has a story. Everyone is carrying something. And sometimes it’s easier to share your deepest secrets with someone you’ve only just met.

Milly Johnson is an absolute master at creating wonderfully crafted characters. They’re flawed, funny, vulnerable, stubborn, occasionally exasperating and utterly human.

And that’s what I love most about her writing. Beneath the festive trimmings, there’s always something meaningful about love, loss, friendship, forgiveness and finding the courage to begin again. She understands that Christmas isn’t always the most wonderful time of the year for everyone, but that even in the bleak midwinter, there can be light.

Grab your blanket, pour yourself a cocoa and settle in with the Queen of Christmas fiction.

Deborah Maclaren

About Let the Bells Ring Out

Seven people, four days and a snowy Christmas on board a luxury sleeper train. This festive season getting away from it all takes on a new meaning…

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