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Hello, I am interested in learning about the development of the British railway system/ early days of the railway. Could you recommend a Victorian novel that uses that as a backdrop? I have read Middlemarch.
Thank you!

I'd second this question!

I think it is difficult to recommend just one novel which includes the good examples of railway development which you are looking for. There are many which include the railway system as an integral part of the plot. A particularly memorable one is 'A Pair of Blue Eyes' by Thomas Hardy but I am not sure if it would fulfil the 'railway development' criteria.

There is an interesting section towards the end of the book in 'Mary Barton' by Elizabeth Gaskell. Mary travels to Liverpool in a train. It is her very first train journey.

Other authors I would recommend as well as George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South also includes many references to railways) would be Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes stories) and possibly George Gissing. Gissing's novels 'The Whirlpool' and 'In the Year of the Jubilee' include many references to London's transport system including the railways.

You may already know about the links below but, just in case you have not come across them, the short articles and links to other works may be useful.

Hi Trev, Thanks so much for all these great reading ideas! I very much appreciate it.
Sincerely, Penney