The Poet on the Train

Evvie, a struggling poet and lit arts teacher in Portland, Maine, senses her luck is changing when she bags her dream job: to serve as the poet-in-residence on a cross-country train journey.

Her “office” is the beautiful and newly restored Pullman Library Car where she guides her fellow passengers to create poems that solve or at least soften their conundrums.

Meanwhile, Evvie grapples with her own challenges, including the fall-out of a messy divorce, impending homelessness, and a snooty poetry professor father who loves reminding her that she’s not Emily Dickinson. Still, she loves her job and feels she is really making a difference, especially when she helps a creatively blocked YouTube “poetry influencer” to reignite her poetic spark.

But just as Evvie finds her stride as the Poet on the Train, she discovers a mystery that points to a global story of people on the move and involves her in the courageous quest of a vulnerable young hero. To help him, Evvie must ask and answer for herself: Can poetry really change the world?

Welcome aboard the Portland Flyer for friendship, adventure, poetry, and an endless supply of chocolate chip cookies!

The Poet on the Train will appeal especially to those who enjoy books the gentle, joyful, and character-driven books by Jenny Colgan, Alexander McCall Smith, and Sangu Mandanna.