Last Train To London, by Meg Waite Clayton, was recommended by my mom and took me back to one of my first loves, historical fiction around the time of World War II.

This book is huge, and it took me a while to get into it. I had to get used to jumping in between the different plot lines that are braided together in the story, and honestly, I’m short on time and get intimidated by huge books. But soon, I couldn’t stop reading.

Few books in the past year have kept me up until four a.m., but this one did. It also made me cry.

The story takes place in Europe in the years just before World War II, primarily in the Netherlands and Austria, with some appearances by Great Britain and Germany. One of the featured cities was Amsterdam, and I read the book around the year anniversary of my trip to the Netherlands. It was nice to go back, in a different sort of way, and imagine what the streets of the city must have been like in the late 1930’s.

I’ve been to England, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, and I especially love reading about places I’ve been, with a different time period as the backdrop. It’s the best kind of time travel. But even if you haven’t been to any of the places in the book, it’s so good that it won’t matter.

If there is an audiobook, I’m betting that it’s fantastic. The descriptions are sensuous, and the picture painted of society during that time was fascinating. The sensibilities of one of the protagonists towards the changing fashion trends of the times made me grin.

The Last Train To London is gripping, moving, and totally worth its heft. Put it on your reading list without delay.