Train to Yesterday (Five Star Expressions) [Hardcover]

Nell DuVall (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the tepid, back-to-the-future romance debut from DuVall, Penny Barton is a railroad heiress slumming as a marketing director for HyperTrans, an Ohio company working in high-speed rail. During an outdoor promotional photo shoot set to look like 1855, her antique steam train passes through a tunnel, and Penny suddenly meets a man she thinks is an actor in 19th-century garb. He is Fletcher Dawe, a Coshocton, Ohio, dry goods merchant who has invested in the nascent railroad—of 1855. He and Penny are smitten, but when they later try to find each other and can't, things get complicated, kind of. As the setting shifts to 1855, DuVall's tale becomes rich with historical color, detailing the bitter business rivalries between canal boats and railroads. Penny gets a very close look at how her family's fortune was won and may have something to offer to save Fletcher's investment. The suspense, however, is lukewarm, and the romance is anemic. The conclusion is a surprise, but cannot carry the weight of this average yarn. (Feb.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 291 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (February 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594146632
• ISBN-13: 978-1594146633
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,384,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nell Du Vall, a.k.a. Mel Jacob, Mary Ellen Jacob, writes both nonfiction and fiction. Among the nonfiction books are: Domesic Technology, Strategic Planning, Planning in OCLC Member Libraries. Articles include pieces on networking, standards, and online services. Children's books include: The Bucket, Cormac and the Coyote, Cormac and the Pear Tree, The Pig Who Ate Halloween, An Egg for AmyLoo. The Train to Yesterday, a time travel novel, features the rivalry between the Ohio canals and early railroads. The short story Corpulent Chiropteran appears in the Melange Books Anthology Curious Hearts. Four Halloween tales are coming October 2011 from etopia, both as individual stories and in an anthology. Her science fiction/fantasy novel, co-authored with Steven Riddle, Beyond the Rim of Light debuts in May 2012 from Melange. She reviews mysteries for Gumshoe Review and speculative fiction for SFREVU and participates in the Internet Writing Workshop. Look for other novels and stories in the near future.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time or money, May 7, 2011

By 

CHEYENNE (KAPAA, HI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Train to Yesterday (Five Star Expressions) (Hardcover)

Extremely disappointing on all levels. Absolutely no romance or relationship involved in story. Time travel is almost irrelevant. Huge question of how one character traveled into future & never even knew it.

Even as a mystery, weak is best description. Most accurate label would be historical time piece.

And, what is the point of the constant fist clenching mentioned in earlier review? Oh & just flat out boring.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entartaining, April 2, 2009

By 

Book Seeker (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Train to Yesterday (Five Star Expressions) (Hardcover)

This is a pleasant enough story and fairly well written, But I have no idea why the author had to resort to having all the main charachters either constantly snorting or clenching their fists. There was no need for that. It was a good story.

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting time travel romance, February 26, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train to Yesterday (Five Star Expressions) (Hardcover)

Railroad heiress Penny Barton works as the marketing director of Ohio-based HyperTrans. Penny arranges a special promo of the firm's product safe high-speed rail. A set is made to look like it is 1855 and Penny rides a mid nineteenth century steam engine train through a tunnel. She meets Fletcher Dawe, whom she assumes is a reenactment actor.

Penny and Fletcher are attracted to one another but he assumes she is a lying saboteur as no one knows Penny. She in turn cannot find him until she sees the photo circa 1855. She further learns how her family earned their fortune, that Fletcher was a merchant who invested in high-speed rail; and the tragic death of canal lockmaster Dan Hudson. When Penny faints, she awakens in 1855 to a world in which the transportation industry violently competes between those who support the railroads and those who back the flatboats sailing the Ohio canals.

This an interesting time travel romance with a vivid look at 1855 through the eyes of the twenty-first century heroine at how her family made their money. Although Penny adapts too easily and the romance between her and Fletcher takes a back seat to historical panorama of pre Civil War Ohio, sub-genre fans will enjoy buy a ticket to rid the TRAIN TO YESTERDAY.

Harriet Klausner