In 1976, memories from a night near the railroad tracks sixteen years earlier haunt Barbara Parker. She wrestles with past demons every night, then wakes to the train’s five-thirty whistle. Exhausted and dreading the day, she keeps her hands busy working in Bryson City’s textile plant, known as the “blue jean plant,” all the while worrying about her teenage daughter, Carole Anne. The whistle of … of the train, the hum of those machines, and the struggle to survive drives Barbara. When an unexpected layoff creates a financial emergency, the desperate pressure of poverty is overwhelming.
Unbeknownst to Barbara, Carole Anne sneaks out at night to walk the tracks so she can work at Hubert’s Bar. She’s hoarding money with plans to drive her mother’s rusty, unused Oldsmobile out of Bryson City, and never return. She only needs one opportunity … if she can just find it.
When Carole Anne goes missing, Barbara finds herself at a crossroad—she must put aside old memories and past hurts to rely on a classmate for help finding her daughter. But this is the same man she blames for the incident years ago. Is she strong enough—or desperate enough—to do anything to keep her daughter safe?
In Outbound Train, the Parker women struggle to make frayed ends meet in a town where they never quite do … at least, not without expert weaving and a bit of brute force.
more
When I write a book review, I don’t like to summarize it again. That is done in the book blurb, so I would rather spend my time describing my thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the story. The beginning of this book is hard to read, and if I had not been warned about it beforehand, I may have quit reading. I am so glad I didn’t. The consequences of this one circumstances described in the opening pages are what drives the rest of the book. The seemingly hopelessness of the characters is heartbreaking at times, but as a reader, I wanted to continue reading. I found myself so drawn into the story that I almost found myself praying for the characters. Without giving away any spoilers, there is a scene where something good happens to one of the characters, and I caught myself thinking that I needed to call my husband and tell him the good news. Ha! That’s when you can tell a book has drawn you into the world of the characters and made you feel like they are people you know and care about. Throughout the story, you find glimpses of hope outshining the hopelessness tugging at your heartstrings and leaving you rooting for the characters.
The town described in this book reminded me so much of my hometown in Georgia. Growing up in a mill town, you definitely see the gap between those who have worked in mills for generations verses those who haven’t. Even today, with all the mills closed, those social barriers still stand. There are still the haves and the have nots, and extreme poverty is a huge problem that many would like to ignore and act like it doesn’t exist.
Several years ago, I read a nonfiction book about Bryson City, North Carolina written by a physician who told stories of being a young doctor starting his career in this Appalachian town around the same time as the events of this story. It is quite interesting to see different perspectives of the same town. The doctor’s stories were more idealistic in many ways.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more books by this author. I recommend this book for High School age students to adults. There is some talk about sex I found unnecessary to the plot, but it was not overwhelming. Thank you, Renea Winchester for your beautiful story.
Set in the southern mill town of Bryson City, ‘Outbound Train’ tells the story of three generations of Parker women. Mother Pearlene, daughter Barbara and granddaughter Carole Anne all live together in the trailer park, and Winchester is unflinching in her portrayal of their hard scrapple life.
There is a dark secret concerning Carole Anne’s birth, and Barbara struggles to make ends meet while working in a factory and trying to care for her mother, who has the early signs of Alzheimer’s.
I enjoyed each of these characters for different reasons. Pearlene was a hoot, and at times had the keenest observations. I loved Barbara’s spunk and determination and Carole Anne exemplified the disheartened teenager who just wants to get the hell out of town.
The plot unfolds at a good pace, and leads to a satisfying conclusion that had me wiping away a happy tear.
If you’re looking for a story about resilient women in a quirky southern town, second chance love and the ties that bind families together despite almost insurmountable odds, then this IS the book for you!
Renea Winchester has an uncanny ability to tell it like it was! Her characters are so real, you’ll swear they live right next door. This novel took me right back to my own hometown and forced me to examine the feelings of my parents, and more importantly, their parents before them. Reminiscent of The Grapes of Wrath, you’ll fall in love with Pearlene, Barbara, and Carol Anne as you follow this tri-generational family along on their journey called “life.” Well done Renea!
Life in an old Southern mill town had its challenges in the best of times but when the mill decides to shutdown what happens to the families who relied on the mill for a regular paycheck to make ends meet? What happens to the next generation? What future does the mill town hold to keep families knit together? Such is the story that Renea Winchester has masterfully knitted together with Outbound Train. This is one of the best heart-warming Southern tales in 2020.
T. M. Brown
Purgatory: A Progeny’s Quest (Shiloh Mystery Series Book 3)
Renea Winchester weaves an authentic story of hard work, dedication, and family ties. Beckoning back to a time when seamstresses we’re in high demand, the reader can smell the cotton, the oil from the sewing machines, and imagine the loose threads in their hair. Feeling like an outcast and scheming to escape her small town of Bryson City, the main character, Carol, tugs on loose threads from her mother’s past. Will her mother remain stoic? Or will she speak her truth and set her daughter free?
I recommend this gorgeously written, starkly real Southern set story that will play on your heartstrings all the way through. Author Renea Winchester writes with a clear-sighted, compassionate eye about women in hard times. They are the blue-collar, Parker women, one haunted by her past; the other, her daughter, who plans to escape the poverty of her hometown, Bryson City, North Carolina at any cost. With twists and turns that seem to come full-circle, this is rural set fiction as its hardscrabble finest with sturdy, resourceful women you won’t ever forget. Outbound Train is an engaging story, Southern to its core in setting and character, and captivating to its last page.
Southern fiction at its best!
Poignant story of three generation of hardworking women surviving on the wrong side of the tracks.