Whispers Along the Rails

This suspenseful sequel to In The Company Of Secrets continues the lives of Olivia the wanna-be chef and Charlotte the spolied English lady. The threat of unionization and instability at the Pullman villiage become obvious. Fred tries to take on the Pullman Company. Charlotte's heart softens, changes and grows into something to be proud of. There is still misunderstanding regarding the relationship of Fred and Charlotte as the lawyer's daughter Ellen Ashton enters the picture. Worst of all Mr. Howard's character takes on villianous overtones.

This book is a swift moving surprise with final answers to come in book three. Even more enjoyable than book one with God softly cheering in the background. Nothing to be sorry about here.

This is a series of books that I would strongly suggest you read in the order they were written. Each story picks up where the previous leaves off and if you were to pick up book two, "Whispers Along the Rails", without reading book one, "In the Company of Secrets", you would not have the background of the characters to fully understand what is going on. I enjoyed having book two pick right up with the story, and you will close the book wanting to pick up the next one to see what happens next because it kind of leaves you "hanging" at the end. I also appreciate the covers on each of these stories as they do a good job of portraying the feel of the story.

In this story Olivia Mott finds herself as assistant chef and as an undercover show more worker for the Pullman Palace Car Company as she rides the rails and observes how the people employed for Pullman do their jobs. She is VERY naive though as what she thinks are mere suggestions to improve the company, are really sinister ways of getting people fired. At the same time her "friendship" with Fred seems to be at a standstill as there are too many situations both her and Fred seem to be misunderstanding. I will say at times Olivia needs to not be so naive and start to put some things together in the town of Pullman.

You will also get to follow up on Lady Charlotte in this story and find her in Chicago. She will have a lot of growing up to do, but as she finds herself under the wings of a dear Christian lady and employed at Marshall Field's department store you will see Charlotte's heart soften to the things of the gospel and her life change for the better. She will still need to go back to Pullman though and figure out what happened to her baby she left behind. I appreciated Charlotte a whole lot more in this story than I did in book one. I look forward to seeing how the author brings it to a conclusion in book three, "An Uncertain Dream".

Although this is a work of fiction, I enjoyed how the author centered her story around a real town and a real company and the way life was back then. There was a whole side of the Pullman Company and how it operated and handled their employees and the quality of work they expected that was very enlightening. show less

While hoping for an acceptable conclusion to the plight of Olivia Mott in this second of a series, I find her situation further complicated and not changed for the better. She continues to be hounded by the town of Pullman's manager, who would be accused of sexual harassment were it today's day and age. Additionally he now is essentially blackmailing her, using the continued employment of her friends to secure her cooperation. This book, however, does lend some hope and redemption for her former employer who left her in the lurch with a young baby to attend in the first book. The book kept me reading, and also, makes me look forward to a successful resolution of all the attendant issues in book number 3 of the series.

This was written well and easy to follow the paths of the many characters in this book. The character Charlotte was more of a focal point in the 2nd book then I was expecting but it turned out to make the story interesting. Not only am I looking forward to reading about Olivias new aspirations,I also want to find out what Charlotte does and if she continues to stay on the good path she has chose. Wondrful book to lose yourself in.

Not great literature, but very interesting from the historical sense.

NCLA Review -This is the second in a series, continuing Olivia’s life as a chef’s assistant and her new job for Pullman, riding the rails to detect cost-saving methods and betterment of services for customers. Later, this turns out to be a misrepresentation. She was really a spotter for the company and employees were dismissed because of her reporting. Olivia is horrified to learn this. Lady Charlotte has a baby out of wedlock and runs away to Chicago, leaving the baby with Olivia. In time, Charlotte is transformed from a selfish young girl to a caring, working young woman who reads the Bible and attends Bible studies. There are many secrets in Pullman that will be coming out in the next book of the series. Rating: 4 —VJ

She agreed to become a rail spy, but who is using the secret information she provides?

Postcards from Pullman Book II