Night Train to Lisbon

by Emily Grayson

Night Train to Lisbon is a sensuous tale of the pursuit of love and passion against all odds, set in the 1930s when the world was on the brink of war and suspicion of loyalty, motivation, and intent -- to both country and lover -- was at flood tide.

Carson Weatherell is a privileged young American woman traveling in Europe in 1936, courtesy of her aunt and uncle who live abroad and have kindly offered to show her the sights. A bout of illness and self-pity almost send her back to her sheltered Connecticut life, but on an overnight train to Lisbon, she suddenly can't imagine returning home. On that train she meets Alec Breve, a young British scientist traveling with a group of colleagues -- and in his company, Carson finds that she's enjoying herself, certainly for the first time since she left New York Harbor, and quite possibly for the first time in her life.

In Lisbon, Carson and Alec begin an intense love affair, but their bliss is threatened when Carson's uncle reveals that Alec might be a spy for Germany. He insists that it is essential that Alec be trapped and brought to justice, and the only person who can deliver an unsuspecting Alec to the proper authorities is Carson. Desperate to believe in her new love -- and terrified of discovering she has fallen for a traitor -- Carson must choose whether to prove her lover innocent or leave him to face the consequences on his own.

A riveting page-turner, Night Train to Lisbon travels back to the days when war loomed, the Mitford sisters dazzled, and night trains brimmed with romance and intrigue, delivering a mesmerizing novel of a love that must truly conquer all in order to survive.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Romance, Novels, Portugal, Trains

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2004

Reviews

[Amber Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I am being honest this book did have a great idea for a story but it was just not written the greatest. The writing was not at the level it should have been. The plot was also all over the place and the ending where she was with her aunt and uncle and her mother and the ‘big plot twist’ was revealed, was not needed and if they felt they needed to add it in they should have elaborated it more, also the ending was very rushed and they just ‘forgot’ about the big plot twist and rushed to the end where they got married. Also in the book the same things and phrases were repeated over and over again. The author had a great idea for a book but executed it terrible!

[Minnesinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

not a 'deep' book, but not pure 'fluff', either. one of those stories that tugs at your heart-strings.
the book is about a young girl, away from home for the first time and unsure of herself, learning about love for the first time and blossoming. a story about real love, and to what lengths one lover will go to be with the beloved.

[Priscilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Um jovem casal se encontra em uma romântica viagem de trem e, contra as todas as convenções, embarca em um tórrido romance que vai revelar o verdadeiro significado da vida: o amor! Mas nem tudo são flores... a estranha e carente infância dos protagonistas somada ao clima de expectativa sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial proporcionam o trágico cenário que talvez possa separar esse casal escrito nas estrelas.

É... nada mal para a minha primeira tentativa. Se você subitamente se sentiu diabético, então meu trabalho aqui está feito.

A verdade é que a maioria dos livros estilo bodice-ripper não prima muito pela originalidade do roteiro, isso por si só não é problema, o xis da questão é que dificilmente encontramos um livro que consiga sair da mesmice ao descrever uma história tão travada.

Infelizmente, a autora dessa obra também não conseguiu. Os personagens são unidimensionais e o pouco de mistério que aparece é tão facilmente resolvível que não se perde nem um segundo para solucioná-lo, mais do que isso, ele se torna mais um efeito contra produtivo para toda a história.

O único aspecto abonador se revela no fato que autora consegue descrever uma ou outra coisa sobre a cultura portuguesa, porém mesmo isso se perde no marasmo dos outros fatos.

Não tem ação, não tem humor, não tem erotismo e a lista por aí vai. Mas se o seu objetivo é capas bonitas, então compre sem medo, porque a desse aqui chama a atenção com aquele clima de tempos antigos. Acredite em mim, é a única coisa que você vai aproveitar desse aqui.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading "Night Train to Lisbon," by Pascal Mercier and when I tried to check out the electronic version through the library got this one on accident. I find it interesting that two books with the same name came out so close to one another. It is an interesting contrast to the other. This is a fast moving, shallow book about a teenager who meets a "mysterious stranger" on the night train to Lisbon during her debut trip abroad after finishing high school at a prep school in Connecticut. It is full of trite expressions written at a sixth grade reading level, in contrast to the poetic philosophy of the other Night Train that takes a PhD in ancient languages to deeply appreciate (neither appreciating juvenile literature or ancient languages I'm probably am not getting the most out of either of these books). I was pretty excited when there turned out to be a plot twist in what I thought was going to be a ridiculously predictable story line. Overall, I can't really recommend it, but if you're looking for something to read while you're on the night train to Lisbon (or let's say an intercontinental flight which is what I happened to be looking for), this is probably a better fit than the other book (which requires a lot of thought and time to mull over ideas).

[Hoover Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may be historical fiction because it does take place on the brink of war however it is more about love and suspicion rather than about history.

Carson Weatherell is a privileged young American woman traveling in Europe in 1936, courtesy of her aunt and uncle who live abroad and have kindly offered to show her the sights. On an overnight train to Lisbon, she meets Alec Breve, a young British scientist traveling with a group of colleagues. Carson finds that she's enjoying herself for the first time since she left New York Harbor, and quite possibly for the first time in her life.

In Lisbon, Carson and Alec begin an intense love affair, but their bliss is threatened when Carson's uncle reveals that Alec might be a spy for Germany. He insists that it is essential that Alec be trapped and brought to justice, and the only person who can deliver an unsuspecting Alec to the proper authorities is Carson. Desperate to believe in her new love -- and terrified of discovering she has fallen for a traitor -- Carson must choose whether to prove her lover innocent or leave him to face the consequences on his own.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fabulous book! I love a well-written, heavy romance. I will say, though, that this book seemed to give either too much detail while lacking a fulfilling amount in others (specifically the end, how their lives turned out - I wanted to see them get married and have a baby, but I'm just weird like that). However, I did get that sad, the-book-was-too-short-and-I-almost-wanted-it-to-go-on-forever-feeling that I only get with the really, really good books that I love. I was very pleased with how everything turned out and the ending. This is a short and heavy read, and if that's what you're looking for, then you should definitely read this story!

[Cerdito Mtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta es la primera novela de Emily Grayson que lei, y es la que me introdujo al mundo de lo romantico. Por demas excelente lectura ara chicas que creen que el amor es rosa y que sobrevive a pesar de todo.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually give this book 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. It was a pleasurable read just not a great one.

Carson is a very passive, sheltered young woman in 1936, raised in a wealthy family amongst similar families in Connecticut - think all those wealthy towns where the social life revolved around a country club membership. Her mother every day reaffirmed that Carson's destiny was that of a princess: to marry into a similar wealthy family, to preside over a beautiful home, host society and charitable events, produce beautiful children and in general continue the same life as she grew up with. Then an offer comes from her aunt and uncle who live in England to join them in Europe for a few weeks in the summer after she graduated from high school, before settling down and accepting the inevitable proposal from the young scion of a wealthy family already picked out for her.

All think it an excellent idea for Carson to have a sort of Grand Tour - Visits to London and Paris plus a stay of several weeks in a villa in Sintra, outside of Lisbon can only give her a little extra polish. Carson is ambivalent at best, not particularly enthused and frankly would have been perfectly happy spending the summer at the club playing tennis and sitting by the pool with friends. Slightly overwhelmed by her Aunt and Uncle (who is something important in the British Government) and their less confined life-style than her parents, and by London and Paris, Carson endures until she gets food poisoning from a bad oyster in Paris. Truly miserable and homesick, Carson wants only to go home but obediently rallies for the trip from Paris to Portugal on the night train to Lisbon. There, while walking down the corridor of the sleeping car, her eyes meet those of a handsome young man playing cards with friends in one of the compartments. A connection is made. The young man, Alec, manages to join Carson and her family for dinner, establishing a connection that is then pursued in Lisbon. The inevitable happens, and Alec and Carson fall in love, start an affair, and suddenly Carson's idyll in Europe is the most wonderful thing in the world. Carson starts making her own choices and decisions. Yay Carson!

Then, 3 days before departing Lisbon for the return trip home to Connecticut, Carson's uncle calls her into his study...and Carson's life is suddenly not so simple or planned. It seems Alec is a spy for Germany... or is he? (none of this is spoiler - every summary of the plot starts with this info). The rest of the novel pretty much deals with the fall out of this revelation. And here is where I start having some serious problems with the book. We are at about the halfway point, and so far the story has been pretty straightforwardly a romance and coming of age story, and I was even wondering when the espionage aspect was going to show up. now suddenly in the last half of the book we have an 'alleged' German spy and it turns into an espionage story -- yet it doesn't for at least another 60 or more pages! Then suddenly we have an active spy story, with steps taken to either trap the alleged spy or find him innocent and if he is innocent trap the real spy, all very rushed. And oh by the way, here in the last chapter is another twist we are throwing in that wasn't even hinted at anywhere. WHAT?! And of course, we have to have an epilogue telling what happens to everyone through the rest of their lives. Ummm, no we did not need the epilogue.

My other gripe is that it did not give much feeling at all for London, Paris, Lisbon, Sintra or even Portugal or its culture (although to be fair, fado and some of the food is described in some detail). The night train scenes were the best at giving a sense of place.

However, I really did like Carson and where she ended up. If you decide to read this, borrow it from the library. It's not a book you want to keep.

[Connie N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected this to be a nice, light romance. But instead it turned out to be much deeper--a romance, yes, but also kind of an introspective by a young woman in 1936. Carson is a rich 18-year-old American who is allowed to go on a visit "to the Continent" with her aunt and uncle. She is naive and homesick as she begins, but when she meets an attractive Englishman on the train, she changes her mind. As time passes, she faces her feelings, goes with her instincts, and soon she agrees to become his lover. Their relationship develops quickly, and she grows and changes as their love becomes stronger. This, of course, is against the backdrop of pending war, and soon Alec gets caught up in it, facing accusations that he (they) don't have a chance to refute. The romance was nice, but so much of the book was Carson "coming of age" and facing challenges and dealing with new, and sometimes dangerous, experiences. The first half of the book was slow, but the last few chapters grabbed my attention and flew by. I enjoyed it, but it was also deeper and not as relaxing as I had wanted. Somewhat old-fashioned because of the time period and because it seemed to be written in a more stilted style, but still a good read.

Quote on marriage: "Carson realized now that she was beginning to understand what a marriage would feel like. It was the freedom to sit in front of a fire night after night. It was the freedom to lie with your lover over a period of years, letting time drift past, getting older together yet not really minding, because the years that you mark off are years spent in the company of the one you love."

[Zahra · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT-but wouldn’t recommend the book anyhow, so go ahead and read my review!!
I was expecting a lot more from this book-an 18 yr old girl from a wealthy family from Connecticut falls in love with a stranger, on a night train to Lisbon from Paris on her European summer trip (rite of passage for young debutantes, the year is 1936, on the verge of WWII) who is a suspected German spy but is later exonerated (in chapter 10) by a strange bland twist in the already strange bland plot (turns out his roommate from Cambridge and his best friend was trying to frame him, Scotland Yard let’s him go free just like that upon finding out, I mean seriously!) No action, no passion or romance, no passing of secrets to the nazi, nothing travel related (would’ve at least appreciated something about the beautiful Sintra!!). The book was short, ten chapters (chapters were a little too long) but still took me a while to finish the book. The book just did not deliver at any level. Finished it only because it had only ten chapters so I thought I’d be able to finish it faster and even that didn’t happen, sadly.

Skip it. Giving it 1 star and an eye roll 🙄

[Anne Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

well this was not the book I intended to read! It was reserved for me at the library (in place of a different book with the same title) for one of my reading groups.
As i read it I became more and more surprised that anyone had put it on the list - it was very light read , quite a fast-paced story about spying in the 1930s (a British scientist, wrongly suspected of spying for Germany, falls for an American girl on her first trip to Europe - England and then Lisbon).

It was hard to put my finger on what was weak about the writing - a bit too obvious (though i was taken in!) and characters rasther stereotypical .... but it did seem quite strange.
Eventually I realised that I had been given the wrong book by the library (and am now about to read the correct one) - but I gave it to a friend who hasn't been able to read anything in over a year - and she read it and enjoyed its straightforward writing ... s0 all good!

[Ramaswamy Raman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple love story set at a time before world war II.
Tge story is of Carson who has been brought up in luxury in the states. During the summer of 1936 she decides to visit her Aunt and uncle, who live in Britain, for a trip to Paris and Lisbon. On a train to Lisbon she meets Alec and their romance starts.
There are few turbulence in their lives as Carson's uncle finds out that Alec is involved in sending information to the Germans and Carson is asked to spy on Alec to get more information about him.
Will their romance come to an end or is there a twist to tge tale?. overall a breezy read, nothing great but a simple love story woven around the war times.

[Mackenzie Doss · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the concept of this book offered a promising read, in the end it was unfulfilled. The book relied too much on an idea of itself and severely lacks any real substance. It suggests historical romance, it hints at intrigue, it promises historically-based suspense......and then falls flat with pages upon pages upon pages of a rich white woman bemoaning her first tryst and how hard life is because she doesn't know what she wants. With WWII in the backdrop, you would think the story would tug at the heartstrings, but it was bland and sadly forgettable.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest here, had I known that this book was written by the same woman who wrote The Gazebo, I probably wouldn't have bothered. I read it ages ago and found it so slow moving and extremely hard to get into that after three tries, I finally gave up. This book, I hope would be different, but it's not. It takes forever to get to the point and Carson is very naive. It reads almost like a YA book and I'm not interested in that at all at the moment. I'm sure it's an enjoyable read but since I could barely get past the second chapter, I'll just have to take other reader's word for it.

[Maria Luciotti · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's somewhere between 2 and 3 stars; the plot had potential, but overall the writing wasn't great. It seemed to start a little more formal when introducing the characters and the Era, and then it seemed like it became a little more elementary.

The plot unraveled rather quickly towards the end, and a second big reveal was dumped on the reader in the final pages -- Carson's real parents are Jane and Lawrence, and she is so calm and accepting of this fact? Philippa is also calm and quick to admit this truth? It will be a cute story to tell their children one day? Odd.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the synopsis for this book so decided to read it as it had an interesting plot and was was set a few years prior to WWII when people were unsure what would happen. It was a fast read but despite the plot that had a ton of potential the writing lacked the impact I was anticipating. This was also more romance than literary historical fiction. It became just an average read for me as a result but I know many readers will love the story.

[Oleon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, si creo que es una novela para chicas que aún ven el romance color rosa. 😹 Pero es tan virginal que a lo mejor no sería un hit en wattpat. De hecho del libro donde la encontré tenía 3 novelas más, todas dieron al clavo con mis expectativas, buscaba frescura y circular idas y adicional obtuve aventura, comicidad tierna y misterio. Esta última novela me dejó mucho que esperar, no por rosita ja ja bueno fuera, sino pq fue aburrida.muy

[Becky Kriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Notebook meets Titanic meets Pearl Harbor in this pre-World War II coming of age novel. The characters are relatable and well rounded, and they behaved as people in the 1930s would have. The plot was somewhat glossed over, and the book reads almost more like a short story than a novel, but it held my attention for an evening.

[Thapan Dubayehudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I really wish I could reach out to Emily Grayson and let her know how amazing Night Train to Lisbon is! I personally am a 20th century enthusiast and the epilogue was just beautiful! How Carson's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren live through the times, the 50s, 60s etc... Upto Carson's death in 2004. MAJESTIC writing! Emily Grayson, you're AWESOME! ❤️

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this coming of age story that oozes what it feels like to be naive and scared and young. 18 year old me probably would have given it 5 stars, but old me can’t get over the ending/epilogue. It’s unnecessary to wrap everything up neatly in a bow, old me knows that’s not how life is and I would have preferred the future to be scary and unknown. (EPUB)

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but I didn't think it was great. It was an interesting concept but it just felt lacking to me. It is almost like every other romance as it didn't really focus on the problems and how to fix them. They were just glossed over.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up before a trip to Lisbon, and it did the job of setting some atmosphere, but not a very realistic or well-written book. Makes a very high-stakes story (war, treason, coming of age) seem histrionic and childish. I did read it in a day but all the while thinking, this book is so stupid.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

formulaic writing, simple plot, not my cup of tea

[Wendy]

light

[Katie Asnicar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one too. It was 😮

[Pattim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet romantic story with interesting surprises. An easy and fun read!

[Deby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro pequeno e que conta uma história com potencial, é pena que não tenha sido bem mais aprofundada. Lê-se muito facilmente mas não com o entusiasmo desejado.

[Emmanuel Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book almost 20 years ago and still cherish the story!

[Megha Barman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first ever romance novel and I loved it.

[Grace Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read that was fun to read while in Portugal. However it very much felt like a first draft that suffered from some pacing issues.