Review: Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley (audio)
what does it mean to be relevant in your own life?
Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley, narrated by Clare Corbett, was a joy to listen to, and would be a perfect fit for commuters. Even though I don’t commute to the office much these days, I understood every moment of this novel. The strangers looking away, eavesdropping on conversations they shouldn’t be, and the characters you create for them (eg., Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm) in your own head based on assumptions and experiences you have.
Iona is an advice columnist who is increasingly feeling pushed out of her magazine’s strategy and belittled by her boss and some of her co-workers who feel she’s too old to be advising today’s youth without some trendy help. She sees the same 10 people on the train and they never speak until a nearly tragic event happens to one of the 10 people. It sets into motion the creation of a friendship and unexpected set of meddling by Iona and the others.
Corbett is an excellent narrator, differentiating between a multitude of characters, but her narration of Iona is delightful and spot on. It’s a novel of new beginnings when doors close and second acts.
Iona is the spoke in this wheel of characters from the financial trader who secretly hates his life to an oncology ward nurse who has panic attacks and anxiety about everything that could go wrong. All of these characters have their own lives and problems, even if the strangers on the train view their lives as perfect. Even those who fall into Iona’s orbit believe Iona’s life is spectacular until they take the time to get to know her.
Pooley’s novel is fun and hilarious, but it also touches on serious issues, including dealing with dementia, the age discrimination, and social media bullying. Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley is a multi-layered novel with an ensemble cast that works well together and hopefully will remain friends for years to come.
RATING: Cinquain
About the Author:
Clare Pooley graduated from Cambridge University, and then spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising before becoming a full-time writer. Her debut novel, The Authenticity Project, was a New York Times bestseller, and has been translated into twenty-nine languages. Pooley lives in Fulham, London, with her husband, three children, and two border terriers. Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting is her second novel.