Publication Date: August 4, 2026
November 1938, Germany. Grete guides two small children onto the train. Placing her arms protectively around their shoulders, she prays the journey is uneventful because she must get six-year-old Adele and eight-year-old Rosa out of Germany…
Grete always longed to be a mother, but it never happened for her so, as the clouds of war gather over Europe, she’s devoting her time to helping Jewish children escape the Nazis. She remembers the face of every single child she’s taken on trains to freedom in the Netherlands. The danger increases with each trip, but, today, she has to get her best friend’s children to safety, because they are closest thing she has to family.
But at the border, the train screeches to a halt and she hears the shout of a Nazi guard. Then the sound of boots coming towards their carriage. When the door bursts open, she draws herself up tall, and prepares to face the interrogation she knows will come. With shaking hands, she passes over Rosa and Adele’s tattered papers and hopes they aren’t scrutinised too closely.
Grete is ready to do whatever it takes to keep her small charges safe…
A completely heart-breaking and emotional WW2 historical fiction novel of incredible bravery, friendship and love in the darkest of times inspired by true stories of the Kindertransport. From the bestselling author of The Midwife of Auschwitz, this unforgettable story is perfect for fans of Orphan Train, The Book of Lost Names and The Nightingale.
A childless Dutch woman offers new hope for Jewish children rescued from Nazi Germany.
Author Anna Stuart delivers a story full of courage and resilience in The Children on the Train. Inspired by the real story of Geertruida Wijsmuller and her role with the Kindertransport.
Within the fictional world, Grete Willier hunts for poor, lost children who have been sent for refuge in the forest along the German border. When she gets an opportunity to chaperone larger groups, she accepts in spite of the increased danger.
Not only do we witness countless close calls, but we also get to experience the heartbreak of parents who believe the only way to keep their children safe is to send them away.
As she pledges to get the young daughters of a Jewish friend to safety, the Nazis dial up the anti-Jewish rhetoric, threatening to close off routes of escape.
The Children on the Train pays homage to the brave people willing to risk everything to save the children.
Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, s Stuart he took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers.
