The Women on Platform Two
Anthony’s novel takes place on a train from Dublin to Belfast in 2023. The annual journey honors the many women who fought for contraception for Irish women in the late ´60s/early ´70s Catholic Republic of Ireland and the forty-seven who travelled that route to purchase condoms in unregulated Northern Ireland in May 1971. As was expected of women at the time, Maura Flynn leaves a job she loves to marry a prominent doctor. On her wedding day, her going-away outfit displeases Dr. Christopher Davenport, and wed just a few short hours, Maura comes face to face with the person Christopher really is, a quite different animal to the congenial man he displays to the world. After a suspicious miscarriage, Maura determines not to bring children into their household and so begins her fight for the rights of Irish women to control their own bodies. Bernie, a harried and loving pregnant mother with three small girls, becomes Maura’s best friend.
The short 2023 sections with Saoirse, a last-minute traveler to whom Maura relates her story, add little to the overall narrative. Beyond that, this is a captivating novel. Bernie has a happy, loving relationship with husband Dan, but after a problematic birth, medical advice says another pregnancy will certainly kill her. The only safe thing to do is to forego her sexual relationship with her husband, which Bernie is not willing to do. Maura represents upper-class wealth: slim, stylish, well turned-out, and financially secure. But her abusive marriage is the opposite of Bernie’s, who is surrounded not by wealth but by love. This is beautifully written using dialogue which draws the reader fully into the characters’ lives and recognition of wider ongoing themes. It is not a traditional page-turner, but it is hard to escape its pull, which makes it such an enjoyable read. An important novel with very timely themes.
