Ghost Train Through the Andes Paperback – 19 April 2007
It was not until long after his grandmother, Sophie, had died that Michael Jacobs was eventually permitted to read the lengthy and passionate letters that his grandfather Bethel had written her from nine thousand miles away. In these letters, Jacobs discovered a remarkable story of hardship, deprivation and enduring love. His grandfather's work on the railway through the Andes was exhausting and desperately lonely. He had little in common with his fellow workers and became consumed by a mounting despondency, from which only his love for Sophie could save him. But, as the months and years of separation passed, the world in which Sophie was blossoming appeared more and more remote from his own.
Michael Jacobs' journey back through time takes him from a rain-swept Hull churchyard to desolate Antofagasta in Chile and to the former silver capital of Potosí. Climbing through ghostly, lunar-like scenery towards the snow-capped summits of the Andes, he follows the route of his grandfather's railway - across giant rocky plateaux, through terrifyingly steep gorges and valleys of tropical lushness, and past grim mining townships buffeted by winds, rain and snow - to reveal an extraordinary love story.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date19 April 2007
- ISBN-100719561817
- ISBN-13978-0719561818
Product description
Review
'This is more than a travel book . . . it's also a love story' ― Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Telegraph
'A fascinating travel book' ― Sunday Times
Praise for The Factory of Light:
Turbulent, tender, irreverent and funny . . . Sheer delight ― Joanne Harris, author of CHOCOLAT
Michael Jacobs' book does everything a book ought to do: it amuses, delights and instructs ― Chris Stewart, author of DRIVING OVER LEMONS
A finale worthy of Fellini ― Geraldine Cooke, Independent
A welcome reminder that close encounters of the Mediterranean kind don't have to be all froth and bubble ― Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
A journey of Chaucerian richness ― Barnaby Rogerson, Country Life
'A magical, enraptured book' ― John Walsh, Independent
'Jacobs is one of the best writers on all things Spanish' ― The Tablet
'The particular strength of this eloquent, unhurried tale is its depiction of the author's friendship with El Sereno . . . Theirs is a winning Quixote-Panza double act' ― Miranda France, Daily Telegraph
Entertaining ― Sara Wheeler, Daily Telegraph
'Skilfully weaves the journeys of grandfather and grandson, separated by almost a century . . .Jacobs . . .embraces South America with the hot, lustrous spirit of carnival' ― Tarquin Hall, New Statesman
'A... bold and engaging family history.' ― Rory McLean, Sunday Telegraph
About the Author
Product details
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0719561817
- ISBN-13 : 978-0719561818
- Customer reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
The book tells the story of the lads who built the railways in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. My great-grandfather was one of them.
It's a brave man who undertakes this journey. Michael Palin did it once, so you could watch how he coped.
Still, it's a pilgrimage for many to go on the rickety train for 13 hours to La Paz with little available oxygen when you're at the top of the Andes!