Most people know the story of The Railway Children, I think, whether it's from the original novel or the various movies. There have been various attempts at sequels before, mostly in radio form. This book is the novelisation of the movie sequel, featuring Jenny Agutter, the most famous Bobbie, as an adult Bobbie. The main plot has to do with evacuees coming to live with Bobbie, her daughter and grandson towards the end of World War 2.
The Railway Children had to be set at a railway. There's no way the plot would have worked without it. The sequel is an exciting adventure that touches on a lot of things I didn't even realise were issues at the time...but it could be set anywhere. The railway barely features, apart from one sequence calling back to a famous part of the original, and even that could have been set on a road instead. Even the title is a little misleading - Bobbie's the only one who appears, and we never hear anything about Phil and where she is nowadays, although we do hear about Peter.
I enjoyed the story very much; I'm looking forward to seeing the movie, as I think it'll be worth viewing (depending on the quality of the child actors, but that's always true in this kind of movie.) It's exciting and heartfelt and children will be caught up in it; it could be a great class novel, as there are several things that could be discussed in groups. However I do think it has little to nothing to do with the original story. But that's just my opinion.
The Railway Children Return novel is available now. The film is due to release on the 15th of July, 2022.
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