The People on Platform 5 (Clare Pooley)

No one speaks to strangers on the train. What would happen if they did?

'Utterly gorgeous. A proper good pick-me-up of a book' RUTH JONES

'Full of original characters and wisdom' KATIE FFORDE

'Feel-good fiction at its best' SOPHIE COUSENS

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Every day at 8:05, Iona Iverson boards the train to go to work. As a seasoned commuter, she knows there are rules that everyone should follow:

· You must have a job to go to
· Don't consume hot food
· Always pack for any eventuality
· You must never speak to strangers on the train

Iona sees the same group of people each day - ones she makes assumptions about, gives nicknames to, but never ever talks to.

But then, one morning, Smart-but-Sexist-Surbiton chokes on a grape right in front of Iona. Suspiciously-Nice-New Malden steps up to help and saves his life, and this one event sparks a chain reaction.

With nothing in common but their commute, an eclectic group of people learn that their assumptions about each other don't match reality. But when Iona's life begins to fall apart, will her new friends be there when she needs them most?

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Readers are falling in love with The People on Platform 5:

'Incredible book, full of joy and warmth and love!'
'A great novel with some truly wonderful characters'
'The fantastic cast of eclectic characters will steal your heart & have you rooting for their happy endings'
'A feel-good, once-in-a-lifetime story'

Clare Pooley, The Bookseller bestseller, April 2023

Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising, before becoming a full-time writer.

Clare's dark but hilarious memoir, The Sober Diaries, has helped thousands of people around the world to quit drinking.

The Authenticity Project, Clare's debut novel, was a BBC Rado 2 Bookclub pick, a New York Times bestseller, the winner of the RNA debut novel award, and a Babelio award. It has been translated into 29 languages.

Friends You Haven't Met Yet is her fourth novel.

Clare lives in Fulham, London, with her husband, three children and two border terriers.