The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
E. Nesbit
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, June 25, 2017)
The Railway Children is the classic children's story by E. Nesbit. originally serialised in The London Magazine. The story concerns a family who move to "Three Chimneys", a house near the railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children befriend an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. The family take care of a Russian exile, Mr Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family and Jim. The theme of an innocent man being falsely imprisoned for espionage and finally vindicated might have been influenced by the Dreyfus Affair, which was a prominent worldwide news item a few years before the book was written.