The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

Hello readers! 

If I think a novel is a good read, I share it here in my blog. Read the description to see if it interests you! 

It’s Labor Day weekend in 1935. WWI veterans are still struggling in Key West camps and the stock market crash has put the country into the Great Depression. Now add what many consider the worst hurricane in history approaching Key West. The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton is a fast-paced story centering on the lives of three women, all in difficult personal circumstances as this devastating Cat 5 hurricane draws near.  

Pregnant Helen Berner is a waitress at Ruby’s diner.  She dreams of leaving her abusive, alcoholic husband. When  a customer at the diner, a “regular,”  offers to help her escape,  Helen takes the opportunity to run away not knowing she is heading right into the path of the hurricane.

Mirta Perez has recently left her Cuban homeland after her marriage to Anthony Cordero, a well-to-do American with criminal ties.  She agrees to the arranged marriage after the Cuban Revolution left her family in a precarious position. While in the Keys for their honeymoon,  Mirta is struggling to understand her new husband and her place in his life. While the hurricane builds, Mirta doesn’t realize her husband’s enemies bring additional danger.  

Elizabeth Preston  has arrived in Key West via the famous Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway. She is searching for her brother in a camp for veterans of the Great War. She hopes he can help her avoid a marriage to a dangerous man back in New York. Coming from a family that lost it’s prominence in society after the stock market crash, her brother may be her only hope of escaping a marriage she doesn’t want.

The danger these three women are in is greatly increased with the deadly force of a historical storm that took between 400-600 lives over that fateful Labor Day weekend. Fast-paced and tension-filled, Last Train to Key West was an interesting read.

If you’ve read it, what did you think? If you haven’t, does my review tempt you to get a copy? I’d love to hear in the comments!

 

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