The Train of Small Mercies

In this stunning debut David Rowell depicts disparate lives united in the extraordinary days that followed an American tragedy.On June 8 1968 as the train carrying Robert F. Kennedy’s body travels from New York City to Washington D.C. the nation mourns the loss of a dream. As citizens congregate along the tracks to pay their respects Michael Colvert a New Jersey sixth grader sets out to see his first dead body. Delores King creates a tangle of lies to sneak away from her controlling husband. Just arrived in the nation’s capitol to interview for a nanny position with the Kennedy family Maeve McDerdon must reconcile herself to an unknown future. Edwin Rupp’s inaugural pool party takes a backseat to the somber proceedings. Jamie West a Vietnam vet barely out of high school awaits a newspaper interview meant to restore his damaged self-esteem. And Lionel Chase arrives at Penn Station for his first day of work—a staggering assignment as a porter aboard RFK’s funeral train.