Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

by Clare Pooley

Pamela Dorman Books, 2022. 352 pages. Fiction

Each morning, most London Underground commuters from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station observe a few unspoken rules: don’t eat smelly foods, avoid loud cellphone conversations, and, most importantly, ignore your fellow passengers, even the ones you see every day. Iona Iverson, whose colorful life has broken the mold in most ways, generally follows these rules. But when a commuting business man chokes on a grape in front of her one day, it breaks the ice between Iona and a small group of her fellow passengers – Sanjay, a lovelorn nurse; Emmie, a sweet graphic designer; Martha, a struggling teenager; and Piers, a workaholic father (who survives the grape encounter). In the weeks that follow, their unlikely friendship transforms each of their lives. 

If you, like me, are a sucker for stories of lonely people finding community, this book is for you. Each of the characters came vividly to life for me with just a brief introduction, and I loved watching them bond throughout the story. The audiobook reader, Clare Corbett, did a wonderful job at making the characters even more lovable. Though Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting deals with some serious issues (emotional abuse, homophobia, bullying, mental illness, cognitive decline), this is still a gentle, happy, and hopeful read.

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SGR