Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
A Novel
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- ¥1,700
発行者による作品情報
Nobody ever talks to strangers on the train. It’s a rule. But what would happen if they did?
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project comes an escapist read that will transport you, cheer you, and make you smile—and make you, too, wish you had Iona’s gift for bringing out the best in everyone.
“A not-to-be-missed read in the mode of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.” —Booklist, starred review
Every day Iona, a larger-than-life magazine advice columnist, travels the ten stops from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station by train, accompanied by her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname: Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm and Terribly-Lonely-Teenager. Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do.
Then one morning, the man she calls Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader chokes on a grape right in front of her. He’d have died were it not for the timely intervention of Sanjay, a nurse, who gives him the Heimlich maneuver.
This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people with almost nothing in common except their commute discover that a chance encounter can blossom into much more. It turns out that talking to strangers can teach you about the world around you--and even more about yourself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A man's near-death experience brings a group of commuters out of their shells in the fleet-footed latest from Pooley (The Authenticity Project). Iona Iverson, an uptight advice columnist being pushed out of her longtime job, lives by strict rules that include never giving up a seat or talking to other riders on her morning commute into London's Waterloo Station. But when Piers, another commuter Iona has long assumed to be an obnoxious businessman, chokes on a grape, Iona and the other riders spring into action to save him. With the ice broken, the passengers get to know each other and look to Iona for guidance on their personal problems. There's Emmie, a young professional facing harassment from a stalker; Sanjay, the nurse who saved Piers and has a crush on Emmie; David, a nondescript suit whose wife wants to separate; Martha, a teenager whose boyfriend leaked a nude picture of her; and Piers, whose bluster disguises his failing career and marriage. While helping them, Iona, in turn, learns how she might modernize her column. The commuters' judgmental attitudes at the story's start are a bit overdone (Iona identifies Piers as "Smart-but-Sexist-Manspreader" before she learns his name), but the heartwarming tale of overcoming the atomization of modern life strikes a chord. Readers looking for a breezy and rewarding story will find much to love.
