A Transcontinental Affair: A Novel

by Jodi Daynard

Overview

A sweeping tale of adventure and danger, innovation and corruption, and two women whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways on America’s first transcontinental train trip.

May 1870. Crowds throng the Boston station, mesmerized by the mechanical wonder huffing on the rails: the Pullman Hotel Express, the first train to travel from coast to coast. Boarding the train are congressmen, railroad presidents, and even George Pullman himself. For two young women, strangers until this fateful day, it’s the beginning of a journey that will change their lives.

Sensitive Louisa dreads the trip, but with limited prospects, she’s reluctantly joined the excursion as a governess to a wealthy family. Hattie is traveling to San Francisco to meet her fiancé yet she’s far more interested in the workings of the locomotive than she is in the man awaiting her arrival. As the celebrated train moves westward, the women move toward one another, pulled by an unexpected attraction.

But there is danger in this closeness, just as there is in the wilds of the frontier and in the lengths the railroad men will go to protect their investments. Before their journey is over, Louisa and Hattie will find themselves very far from where they intended to go.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542004091
Publisher:	Lake Union Publishing
Publication date:	11/01/2019
Pages:	348
Sales rank:	924,092
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jodi Daynard is the author of the bestselling trilogy that includes The Midwife’s Revolt, Our Own Country, and A More Perfect Union. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous periodicals, including the New York Times Book Review, the Village Voice, the Paris Review, AGNI, Fiction, and the New England Review. She has taught writing at Harvard University, at MIT, and in the MFA program at Emerson College.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

Daynard (A More Perfect Union) turns an exciting premise—a romance between two women on a 19th-century cross-country train—into a middling love story. Tomboy Hattie Eames boards the Pullman Hotel Express heading towards San Francisco, where she’s to meet her fiancé for the first time. Louisa Finch boards the same train as the Ridgewood family’s new governess accompanying them to San Francisco. Hattie at first struggles to converse with Louisa, keeping her at a distance. As their journey continues, Louisa and Hattie warm to each other, becoming close friends. But when another passenger flirts with Louisa, Hattie’s jealousy rears, and she realizes her feelings for Louisa are romantic; she confronts Louisa and the two share a passionate kiss. Sadly, neither can commit to the romance with their different circumstances, but they continue to see each other aboard the train. As they approach their destination, one final incident forces Hattie and Louisa to face reality and grapple with some hard choices. The budding romance is charming, but the weak conflicts slow the pace of the story, which relies too often on the train’s journey to keep moving. Readers will enjoy the setting’s novelty, but may lose interest in the romance even before the confusing ending. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

09/20/2019

Hattie Eames is delighted when a family emergency prevents her congressman father from accompanying her on the inaugural transcontinental journey of the Pullman Hotel Express in 1870. She can smoke, drink, wear trousers, and investigate railroad mechanics. In California, her fiancé, Leland, whom she hasn't met, prepares for her arrival. Hattie grows increasingly dismayed at that prospect when she meets fellow passenger Louisa, governess for a rich family. With few marriage prospects because of a clubfoot, sensitive, artistic Louisa wants to escape poverty and her repressive father. Stockholders, politicians, and wealthy passengers enjoy luxurious surroundings, scenic stops, and excursions such as meeting Brigham Young. Hattie gradually realizes that the onboard "newspaper" is a public relations tool that explains away or ignores breakdowns, derailment, murder, and Indian attacks. Recognizing corporate corruption, she devises a plan to start a new life with Louisa. An author's note explains the historical basis for the journey and the Union Pacific investment scandal. VERDICT Marred by stereotypes, including a derogatory term for a Native American woman, as well as improbable plotlines, Daynard's (A More Perfect Union) novel may have limited appeal for die-hard fans of historical romances set in the frontier West.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato

Library Journal

Inspired by true events, A Transcontinental Affair is a remarkable story of love, adventure, and self-discovery, a powerful and eye-opening novel that crosses genres as it crosses the continent.” —The Advocate

“Climb aboard the Pullman Hotel Express! Let Jodi Daynard reward you with characters you care about, details you cannot forget, and a romance that you will find unconventional indeed. It’s a beautifully drawn depiction of America at the dawn of the modern age…modern and surprising in so many ways.” —William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and Bound for Gold

“Over the course of a momentous train excursion across the continent, a cast of intriguing characters slowly reveal their secrets. With impeccable research and details, surprising developments, and unexpected thrills, Daynard shows us all that we never know where we might find love.” —Ann Howard Creel, bestselling author of The Whiskey Sea

“As the Pullman Express rolls across the Transcontinental Railroad, an extraordinary world, part lost, part timeless, unfurls. With exquisite descriptions and a cast of intriguing characters, at heart, this is the story of two remarkable women. Daynard handles Hattie and Louisa’s burgeoning feelings with depth and sensitivity, but just as the untamed landscapes of the United States seem to open up possibilities of untold freedom for them, the constraints that await at the journey’s end begin to close in. With dramatic twists and turns, I am certain that readers will love this story as much as I did.” —Ella Carey, bestselling author of The House by the Lake and Beyond the Horizon

From the Publisher