The Last Train Home

by Blayne Cooper

Blayne Cooper, the award-winning author of Cobb Island, Echoes from the Mist, and The Story of Me, has torn The Last Train Home, her touching, gritty new novel, from the pages of American history at the end of the nineteenth century. It might have been the Gilded Age for the likes of Rockefeller and Carnegie—but newly arrived immigrants and poverty-stricken Americans packed into Manhattan’s teeming Lower Eastside were lucky to make ends meet. In this tumultuous time, factory worker Virginia Chisholm hopes for more, but her dreams go up in smoke when a tenement blaze rips her family apart. Aided by Lindsay Killian, the street-wise, rail-riding drifter she meets in a charity hospital, Ginny follows the orphan train that has taken her siblings west. The desperate quest to reunite her family takes the young women from the slums of New York City to the farms of West Virginia and the bustling frontier beyond. This harrowing journey moves Ginny and Lindsay from one mishap and adventure to another. It also leads them from friendship to a tender and unexpected romance.

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Historical, Lesbian Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Queer

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Blayne Cooper has also written under the pen name Advocate. She is the Royal Academy of Bards 2005 Hall of Fame Author and a recipient of the 2014 Academy of Bards Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Northern California in January 1969, Blayne Cooper is the best-selling author of a variety of fiction ranging from mystery/romance to outrageous parody. With each novel she tackles a new personal writing challenge. The result is a diverse collection of lesbian fiction.
Blayne has held a number of interesting, and sometimes rather unusual jobs (sunflower sexer), and completed a stint as a Combat Medic in the Army National Guard. Today, she is a project manager for a legal publishing company by day, and writer by night.
In 1990 Blayne graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. degree in political science. The next year she married and in 1995 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and was admitted into the Oklahoma Bar Association.
That same summer, her spirited daughter was born. A gregarious son completed the family in 1997. She easily ranks her children as her greatest accomplishment.
Blayne has always harbored an interest in fiction, but it wasn’t until 1998 that she tried her own hand at writing by reaching out to an online audience. A couple of years later, her work was published. While she enjoys the challenge of working in multiple genres, it's writing about the humor found in everyday life that gives her the most pleasure.
Blayne loves travel, reading, and spending long, sleepless nights crouched over her computer in search of the perfect words that will make people laugh or weep uncontrollably. She's still looking, but having a great time on the journey.
A rolling stone at heart, Blayne currently resides in the Midwest with her loving spouse, two children, and Wheaton Terrier. (from the author's website)

Reviews

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of YA. It’s not my go to, but I do enjoy a good one every now and then. I absolutely love historical romance. That being said Last Train Home is a favorite of mine.
I’ve read it several times. My heart breaks with Ginny and the loss of her family in the fire. I love Lindsey and how she helps Ginny track down her younger siblings. I love the friendship the two form while being in the hospital. They were strangers but found someone they could lean on and count on in each other. I enjoyed watching that friendship evolve. They become a family as they search for and find Ginny’s younger siblings.

[Colleen Corgel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really sweet, if a little slow, teen historical romance. the book depicts life in New York near the turn of the century as a bleak, cold and crowded landscape. There's some great small details that show off the research Cooper did, such as the Charity hospital on Blackwell's Island. The island is currently known as Roosevelt Island, but before that, it was known for the very same hospital and asylum complex that is mentioned in the book.

The one thing that really slows down the book is how unlucky both Lindsay and Ginny are. The first part of the book is full of action and desperation, then it slows to a bit of a crawl as we wait for the next series of unfortunate events to happen to our leading ladies.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most excellent read!

I laughed out loud, I was sad and mad reading this story. There were sections that I found I couldn't read fast enough trying to find out what was going to happen, what was the outcome going to be. I truly enjoyed reading this story and the adventure of took me on! Well done!

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

The language and willingness to be 'deviant' was just all wrong. There could have been far more suspense. Ginny was a bit of a nincompoop, and Lindsay just outright stupid on more than one occasion. It's a high 2, but a 2 nonetheless.

[MizLiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story for YA. I can see some of the things happening but to be able to exist without working and always finding good people to help them in the 1800's is not quite believable. Still funny in parts, love developing with no guidelines.

[Julieta Steyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the beginning, a number of different misfortunes that lead to two women to the hospital, but in general I like twisted things. So... this meeting will make one of them agrees to help find the family of the other woman.
Problems, problems and more problems along the way. Final paragraph (for people who didn't understand) is the typical humor of Blayne, obviously they didn't read anything more of her.
A book better of your "famous" writers / owners of editorials? Yes. Literature? Nope, she's not Sarah Waters. Geez! You don't understand anything. Blayne is Blayne.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters and the story, but just seemed like I could not get to the end. Once I finally did, I was happy. But was not happy with the post script, thought to much was dumped into it. If I could give a 1/2 star this would get 3.5 stars.

[Wendy Simpson]

One of my favorites

I absolutely love this book. Great story line. I love the characters. They'll all do different. I love how the relationship between the two girls develop. Just overall amazing book. I definitely recommend others to read. You won't be disappointed!

[AGC · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is interesting and the characters likable, but the writing, like most lesbian fiction, isn't the highest quality.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing left a lot to be desired. Slow. A lot of potential that was allowed to slip away.