The Train of Small Mercies
David Rowell’s piercing debut novel, The Train of Small Mercies, re-imagines June 8, 1968–the day Robert Kennedy’s body was transported by funeral train from New York’s Penn Station to Washington’s Union Station and then on to Arlington Cemetery for burial. Centering the novel around multiple characters and their disparate experiences, Rowell weaves together a sweeping yet intimate account of day-to-day life during one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. In New York, a young black porter begins his first day on the job on the train that will carry RFK to Washington–after just receiving news that might change his life forever–while in Washington, Maeve McDerdon, a young Irish nanny hoping to work for the Kennedy family, finds her job prospects dashed but her hopes for the future renewed. In Maryland, a young Vietnam vet who lost his leg in the war prepares for an interview with the local newspaper, and in nearby Delaware, Edwin Rupp has just installed a new pool in his backyard and would rather celebrate with his friends than take part in the national mourning. In Pennsylvania, Delores King must escape from her disapproving husband in order to witness the history that is rolling by; and in New Jersey, a group of young boys set out to see their first dead body.
As the fateful day progresses, it becomes clear how the biggest events of history make their impacts felt on everyday lives, and why the bonds that tie us together are the most important of all.
Rowell wrote The Train of Small Mercies as a fictional response to the remarkable photographs of Paul Fusco, who shot more than 1000 pictures while riding the Kennedy funeral train on assignment for Look Magazine. Those pictures went unpublished for 30 years before comprising his seminal book, RFK Funeral Train. That collection’s stunning images of a nation in mourning inspired Rowell to imagine the lives of those captured on film. Who were they? What did they leave behind to get there? And how would their lives be different afterward?
At once elegant, and profound, The Train of Small Mercies is, ultimately, a love letter to America’s past and future.