By Milly Johnson

Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous’, Einstein said. Freud disregarded such nonsense: everything could be explained was his mantra; whereas Jung believed coincidences were a manifestation of a deeper order in the universe. Certainly, after Clifford’s ‘experience’ he was more inclined to believe in the magic of them. ‘Accept the mystery, Jane,’ he’d say. ‘I am a happier man for doing so.’

One of Milly’s specialties is telling the stories of women (and sometimes men) who are victimized and dominated by their (usually narcissistic) partners who finally see the light and find the strength to stand up for themselves and escape. Usually into the loving arms of another man (or woman) who is kind, strong, and worthy of them. Although I love Milly Johnson’s writing and eagerly anticipate these characters’ final victories and the comeuppances in store for their abusers, it’s all starting to get a little old. Let me put this feeling about this aspect of Milly’s books in context. I have read every Milly Johnson book at least twice and some several times. Even when I first started reading Milly some of her female characters (usually self-inflicted) plights were way too much for me. But sometimes as much as the designated doormat in her cast of characters frustrated and sometimes even infuriated me, the situation was usually balanced out in some way. For example, an epic take down of the abuser( The Yorkshire Pudding Club), or the woman (or man) having the epiphany fairly early on, and determined and committed to her escape route (The Queen of Wishful Thinking.) What I can’t abide is what happened in this one.

We follow a diverse group of English men and women who are struggling in their lives in some way and are traveling for Christmas. Due to a rather mysterious storm, they end up snowbound together on a luxurious private train. This is very similar in structure to Milly’s 2020 Christmas themed novel, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. We first meet Tom, the attractive owner of a Taxi service who is chauffeuring a beautiful and posh young woman, Elizabeth, to a Manor on the outskirts of Durham where she is meeting her fiancé and their two sets of parents for their annual celebration. It is apparent immediately that her relationship with her fiancé is not only unhappy but toxic. Jane is an elderly woman who has been recently widowed and missing her wonderful professor husband and happy marriage. Wherever she is going she is not looking forward to it. It is clear that those who remain in her life do not appreciate her. Grace and Frank are a married couple and we learn that something happened in their lives that turned Grace from a lovely woman to a cold, snappish, and sour killjoy who holds something against her very nice and warmhearted husband. “Roo”, or Ruby, is a lively young woman who seems a bit eccentric but nice. She is not a fan of Christmas and has suffered a recent setback. Tim is a middle-aged man who is grumpy and standoffish. He is a big guy with a white beard who ironically works at playing Santa Claus at Christmas. As they make themselves at home on the train, they are surprised and delighted that every luxury they could wish for, from accommodations, to food, to drink is theirs for the asking. As they get to know each other and each other’s stories even the least sociable and closed down among them start to open up. With the others’ help and advice they start to understand and come to terms with truths about what has damaged them and their lives. Paths forward to healing slowly reveal themselves to each of them. As the 7 castaways become friends they start to notice strange things going on in some of the train cars. They are not alone.

This was a likable and enjoyable book in many ways, and of course happy endings abound at the end in true Milly Johnson fashion. There were some twists and turns I saw coming a mile away, but a few I didn’t. Unfortunately, Two of the main women characters, Elizabeth and Grace, got me so frustrated and angry that I almost wished they had been left with the unhappy endings they deserved! Almost. The story is told, as in most ensemble type books and movies, by visiting each character as they contribute to the present day plot while their backstory is unwoven. Most if not all of Milly’s stories involve (heavenly?) enchantment to some degree, but this one, like her other previously mentioned holiday tale, is all about the Christmas magic.

As usual Milly weaves good stories around each of the engaging characters. They deal with grief, estrangement from loved ones, disappointment in love, unrealized potential, or greedy or rotten families. All written with plenty of Yorkshire dialect, humor, and a light touch. My first problem was that every single time we came to Elizabeth’s turn in the spotlight, it was one horror after another showing how badly she was treated by her horrible family, her horrible fiancé, and his horrible family. She reflects on their horribleness, clearly sees how she is being gaslighted and bullied, but still never wavers from going back to her toxic environment. Even as a clear path to living her dream in life and love unfolds before her! She acts like a lifetime of misery is preferable to rocking her boat. She comes to her senses at the last second but even then has to be driven away by the nice guy. We never see her stand up to confront her rotten family and fiancé. I imagine they were all kinds of gobsmacked and irate over her rebellion, but we never have the pleasure of reveling in their downfall. All we get is a glimpse of them in the rear view mirror as they are sprayed with the gravel of her getaway taxi. Not even an engagement ring-toss out the window.

I’m not going to dwell on Grace, but she was a stone cold b***ch to her kind, popular, and patient husband. Yes, they experienced a horrible tragedy together, but to Grace it was all about her. She blamed her husband for something completely out of any human control. Both women held on to their painful circumstances much too stubbornly for me. They continued on their roads to disaster despite almost miraculous escape routes being provided right in front of them. To add to my exasperation, I even started to despise poor Frank for putting up with Grace so patiently for so long. I have never given any of Milly’s novels less than 4 stars, but sadly, I couldn’t give this one more than 3 in the end. It was Dawn in Summer Fling, my least favorite character in my least favorite novel by the author, all over again.