Inter Rail is a novel about Francesco, a young, educated Italian who leaves home for the first time to taste freedom across Europe. Inspired by the author’s own experiences as a young traveller, the novel races across borders as Francesco’s next destination is influenced by the events of the previous one.
Alma Books sent me this book to review on the day before I was jetting off to Sweden. It went straight into my hand luggage; perfect holiday reading material, particularly when I read on the back cover “a chance encounter in Munich takes him off course, on an incredible journey that will see him fall in love in Sweden, lose all his money in Amsterdam, sleep rough in the streets of London, win big in Monte Carlo and get caught up in an international imbroglio”
Not that I was intending to fall in love in Sweden (I think my husband might have had something to say about that) but I was intrigued by the idea of a travel experience where nothing is planned and little luggage is packed: so unlike my own holidays where everything is booked months in advance, nothing is left to chance, and clothes for all kinds of weather are packed in enormous cases. So this book, for me, would be pure escapism, a fantasy I would never actually experience.
Thank heavens for that, then, as Francesco’s canter through Berlin, Paris, Oxford and Stockholm is fraught with danger and some unsavoury sleeping arrangements. I thought there might be some steamy moments in keeping with the front cover image of unzipped flies imitating rail tracks but our Italian traveller is more a gentleman than a Lothario and it is true love he finds, rather than passing thrills.
Inter Rail offers a snapshot of a number of European cities but I wish the book had been longer so I could have immersed myself in the culture of each destination. The storyline is less about the countries and more about the people Francesco meets, in particular con-man, Pierre, who Francesco hooks up with and can’t seem to shake off. But I suppose that’s the whole concept of inter-railing: to keep moving and just snatch a brief glimpse of each country whilst meeting like-minded travellers. It’s only when Francesco returns home to Genzano that the pace slows and the reader gains a real sense of place in the description.
Inter Rail is published by Alma Books
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PS: Have returned home from our two-week tour of Sweden. Unlike Francesco and his one change of clothes, I have a mountain of laundry to contend with but, be assured, Mum’s Gone to Sweden posts will start very soon. Watch this space!
Sounds interesting… I always fancied inter-railing… 🙂
It was quite the thing in the 80s when I was at school and University – and very cheap too. But it never appealed to me, too much of a scaredy cat!
Looks like a good holiday read. Good luck with the laundery, and looking forward to reading your Sweden posts. xx
About to put fingers to the keyboard, but not sure where to start. The beginning might be an idea!