The Snow Train

by Joseph Cummins

Fiction. This debut novel begins in 1952 and tells the story of a young boy whose sister is killed in a car accident, and who is haunted for years to come by her death. Told in an authentic child's voice Cummin's book is reminiscent of Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. "A groundbreaking first novel that tackles nothing less daunting than the fragile psyche of early childhood" - Kaylie Jones, author of A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2001

About the author

Joseph Cummins is the author of numerous books, including Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Elections; A Bloody History of the World, which won the 2010 Our History Project Gold Medal Award; and the forthcoming Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to choose how to rate this book was difficult. I was in turn sad, bored and horrified by the story. So to indicate "I liked it" is false. I didn't "like" it but I do think it was well written and written in a very unique voice.

That voice was disturbing much of the time.

After the first third of the book, when the sad tragedy happens (just in case someone doesn't know what happens, no spoilers here) I almost stopped reading because it was just so sad, and written so brutally.

Halfway through the book I almost stopped reading because I was bored.

By the end of the book I was slightly furious that it ended when it did.

I believe "brutal" is the best word to describe this book. This book is not for the faint of heart. I only wonder at the life of the author that he could know so intimately about such … such an inner life. I feel the need to expose myself to normality now.

[Leyna Picariello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book.
The narration I found personally wonderful... I love when a story is being told from a point of view so different from mine, e.g. A seven year old boy. But I definitely felt like I was robbed of a convulsion, which wouldn't feel so cruel if I hadn't spent the rest of the story depressed and sad for the poor child. Even a terribly sad ending would have been better. I feel like I sacrificed important details because it's being told by a child, only to end just as confused as I started. I wouldn't honestly recommend this book.

[Shannon Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking, brutal, tragic, heavy, and heartbreaking with an unsatisfying ending that left me feeling frustrated. Well written and very eerie. Very sad.