The Train of Small Mercies

In New York, a young black porter struggles through his first day on the job—a staggering assignment aboard Robert F. Kennedys funeral train. In Pennsylvania, a woman creates a tangle of lies to sneak away from her disapproving husband and pay her respects to the slain senator, dragging her child with her. In Maryland, a wounded young soldier awaits a news¬paper interview that his parents hope will restore his damaged self-esteem. In Washington, an Irish nanny in town to in¬terview with the Kennedy family must reconcile the lost oppor¬tunity and the chance to start her life anew. In this stunning debut, Rowell depicts disparate lives united by an extraordinary commemoration, irrevocably changed as the Kennedy funeral train makes its solemn journey from New York to Washington.