Another Tessa Hadley story about a train – this time a short story in The New Yorker – Under the Sign of the Moon – involved me with her usual talent for creating relationships in unusual encounters.  What better place than a train for meeting strangers.  In this tale, Greta is traveling to visit her daughter, and meets a strange persistent man on the train.  Hadley melds the landscape around Liverpool with Greta’s life, describing the moving scene as Greta remembers her past, and wonders about her fragile future.  The ending offers a chilling possibility – who was that young man, really?

Hadley offers her perspective in an interview with Deborah Treisman – This Week in Fiction – Tessa Hadley, but you might want to read the short story in the March 24th issue and decide for yourself.

Review of another Tessa Hadley train story: The London Train

Related articles

• Tessa Hadley: “Under the Sign of the Moon.”