A book review of Platform Seven by Louise Doughty.
Platform Seven is a slow, dull and ultimately unsatisfying book by Louise Doughty.
It’s the tale of Lisa, a ghost who is confined to Peterborough railway station. As the story progresses she slowly begins to remember what has happened to her, and the relationship with Matthew, Matty. As well as Lisa, the story weaves around the lives of Dalmar, the station security guard, a refugee with a tragic past; PC Akash Lockhart, a British Transport Police Officer; Tom, his ukulele playing boss; and Andrew and Ruth, brother and sister with a dark story to tell.
It’s a sad story, and as I read through the 470 pages I longed for some resolution for Lisa. However, the denouement, whilst poignant, is ultimately flat. I closed the book—with a sigh of relief—having felt let down.
In most stories it’s the final scenes that make what has gone before meaningful; the build-up, getting to know the location and the characters. It’s the last chapters that draw us in and keep us living in the book, with the action. We feel part of the drama. For this to happen the reader needs to feel it. But in Platform Seven we are told it. Lisa basically gives us a tour, as narrative, of what will happen to each character.
The story itself begins with a suicide in Peterborough station; a man throws himself in front of a freight train at 2am. It’s a dramatic start, and seemingly a good sign for what is to come. But then the next hundred pages is about the police response, Network Rail’s response, the procedures and processes. I now know everything there is to know about how a major train station functions. Fascinating to some, no doubt, but please, Louise, get on with it.
Then we get to hear the backstory of Lisa’s relationship with Matty. It’s obvious very quickly what sort of relationship it’s evolving into. But again, for many, many pages we learn nothing new about the story; it becomes scene after scene reiterating what we already know. In fact, I skipped 50 pages in the mid-section of the book and it made no difference at all to my understanding of the plot. That’s not good. If it makes no difference to the plot then why’s it there?
It is a shame, because Apple Tree Yard, another book by Louise, is a really good read. It’s the polar opposite of Platform Seven; a steady, but dynamic experience; instead of a laboured uphill plod. Yvonne Carmichael has it all—a good marriage, a nice family, a brilliant and worthy career—but, on the whim of a single glance on an escalator, she begins a passionate affair. The intensity of the relationship leads to tragedy and a riveting court case. The structure is excellent, the plot credible and Yvonne very well portrayed. It’s still over 400 pages, but every single one of them works.
As I’m typing this I’m wondering which book came first. I would love to believe that Platform Seven did , and that Louise’s books got better. But no, six years apart, Apple Tree Yard the first of the two. Whatever you Love, also by Louise, is sandwiched between the two. It’s a heart wrenching tale of a mother losing her daughter to a hit-and-run and seeking vengeance. Also worth a look.
I shall read more of Louise’s recent titles because I still believe, despite Platform Seven being 100 pages too long and not working for me, that she is a good writer
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2 Comments
Interesting to read this review Paul as I too have had mixed reading experiences with Louise Doughty’s books. I first encountered her through her ‘A Novel in a Year’, a weekly article in one of the broadsheets, which I believe was later released in book form. That led me to read one of her novels, ‘Dance with Me’ and I found it very disappointing. I read no more until ‘Apple Tree Yard’, which I thought was excellent.
Whatever you love is worth a read. Very different from Apple Tree Yard. I would read more of hers, but I don’t tend to stick to one author so much, I like to spread my precious reading time a bit wider.