If you are a fan of Chanel Cleeton's other books then this will already be on your TBR list. If you haven't discovered her yet start with The Last Train to Key West and you will want to read her others asap. This was my favorite so far. You might not even need a book mark because you won't be able to put it down! I became so invested in the intertangled lives of these women's stories and needed to know how it would all play out for them with urgency. Yes, you could say I was swept right up in the storm.
If you are looking for historical fiction that doesn't leave you feeling ripped apart, then this is for you.

Solid historical novel! I will admit I knew nothing about the Great Depression in Florida before reading this book. To be honest, when I imagine the Great Depression, I always picture the Dust Bowl and westward expansion. However, I appreciate historical fiction that makes me consider something I've never thought of before, so this one was right up my alley. Economic insecurity, an incoming hurricane, a gangster turf war, new and old love, the pathetic treatment of veterans, questionable decisions by the government ... this book has plenty to root for (and root against).

Really great story about the 1935 Hurricane that impacted the Florida Keys. Recently I had read The Last Train to Paradise which is a story of Henry Flagler and his desire to connect Key West to the rest of the United States thus opening up the Cuba and Caribbean trade. I loved this story because of the historic accuracy and because of how Cleeton intertwined the lives of three women from different backgrounds. Each of these believable female characters had a choice to make about their lives so that they could live as the women they were meant to be free of the constraints of their individual society. I liked that they were all women of different backgrounds facing the same challenges. Some twists and turns and nicely plotted with some tension that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

Three women find themselves in the Florida Keys at major life decision points. As reports of an oncoming storm float around, the women will have to decide whether they can live with their choices. Author Chanel Cleeton digs into a fascinating true-life event with keen prose and distinct characters in The Last Train to Key West.

It’s the start of the Labor Day weekend, 1935, in Key West, but Helen Berner doesn’t have much to celebrate. Her fisherman husband, Tom, is either on his boat or drinking away what he earns. Helen’s learned not to complain. Tom makes sure she stays quiet, and if she ever forgets the bruises remind her.

In the past, Helen’s found ways to justify Tom’s behavior. Now she’s pregnant, and the baby is due within a few weeks. With motherhood descending on her, Helen finds it harder to convince herself she’s safe.

Mirta Perez has just arrived from Havana on the island with Anthony for their honeymoon. It should be a magical, romantic time…except that her wedding was a business transaction. The Cuban revolution of 1933 devastated her family; when Anthony asked Mirta’s father for her hand, Mirta agreed. Anthony got a wife, and her family got the funds needed to rebuild.

The flush of a new relationship is colored by Anthony’s profession. While he calls himself a businessman, Mirta knows he’s a gangster, albeit a handsome, well-dressed, rich one. She tries to reconcile that fact with the man who is attracted and attentive to her in surprising ways.

On the train down from New York, Elizabeth Preston arrives in Key West determined to save her family from ruin. She’s searching for the one person who can help her. His last letter carried a Key West postmark, and Elizabeth is convinced he’s in one of the veteran camps there.

The camps are supposed to give veterans of the Great War a chance to earn an honest living, but Elizabeth discovers they’re horrible places where the soldiers who fought to protect the country are shipped and forgotten. With the help of FBI agent Sam Watson, Elizabeth begins visiting the camps, keeping her eyes sharp for a familiar face.

All three women hear about the storm that so many Keys natives are sure will miss the islands. Weather experts can’t agree on where it will go. As it churns closer, Helen, Mirta, and Elizabeth must all make the same decision about the storm and themselves: should they stay, or should they leave?

Author Chanel Cleeton takes several intriguing pieces of history and fuses them seamlessly. She highlights people suffering during the Great Depression between the World Wars, emphasizing the quiet desperation so many felt. By adding the real-life veteran camps in Florida, Cleeton emphasizes a fact that still haunts this country today: veterans who are forgotten after they return from service. With the inclusion of an ambitious railroad project and a record-setting hurricane, Cleeton creates the perfect storm for Helen, Mirta, and Elizabeth and their challenges.

Cleeton lends to each woman unique qualities that make them stand out. Helen’s weary tolerance as an abused victim juxtaposes Mirta’s hyperawareness of her abrupt change in circumstances from single girl to married woman, and both balance Elizabeth’s idealistic resolve to find her loved one and bring him home. Cleeton builds into the story layers of conflicts and challenges, and the storm looms over all three of them as it does everyone else in the Keys.

In describing the storm and the aftermath, Cleeton captures the hurricane experience with precision. Those who have lived through hurricanes will find themselves nodding along with her descriptions. Those who haven’t experienced one of the magnified storms will get a good idea of what it’s like.

While Cleeton relies a little bit on serendipity to bring the three women together, their encounters feel organic. The surprise she saves for readers at the end is welcome and a true “aha!” moment. Readers will finish this one grinning with delight at how it all comes together, which is why I recommend they Bookmark The Last Train to Key West.

I hate to say this but I think Chanel Cleetons books have gotten weaker as she writes... this felt like a novella. There didn’t feel like a lot of plot set up, character development felt nonexistent to me. I liked the idea of the plot but the execution wasn’t great. There are better historical fiction books out there, and I’d recommend her first 2 before I’d recommend this one. (Also based on other reviews I’m in the minority)

The Last Train to Key West
by Chanel Cleeton
Berkley Publishing Group
You Like Them
Berkley
Historical Fiction | Multicultural Interest
Pub Date 16 Jun 2020 | Archive Date 16 Jul 2020

Loved this new book by Chanel Cleeton. Thanks to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.
I knew very little of the hurricane and how it affected the area.
Great read!

I absolutely loved this book. I had no idea how bad things were for WW1 soldiers returning home or about the hurricane of 1935. I couldn’t put this book down. The drama, the romance, every story was so great. Usually I enjoy one story over the rest in books like this but that was not the case for this book. I would love for more stories to come from the main characters.

This book sheds light on a little known chapter of American history, the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that killed hundreds, including many WWI veterans. The storm hit the keys, devastating camps where American veterans were staying and swept a train from the tracks. Cleeton sets the struggle of two women against the backdrop of the storm.

One wealthy and one poor woman, about to give birth try to survive the storm and set the stage to create a different life for themselves in the days to come.

Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction.

I was elated when I saw the chance to request an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. I loved Chanel Cleeton's books Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba and hoped this one would be no different. The Last Train to Key West did not disappoint. It's the story of three women from different ways of life who find themselves in Key West at the time a terrible hurricane hits the Keys in 1935. It's the time of the Great Depression and times are hard for everyone. Elizabeth from New York takes Henry Flagler's Overseas Railway to Key West to find her brother based an a postmark on a letter she has received. Mirta, from Cuba, has married a wealthy man she hardly knows. Helen has an abusive husband, but has no place to go. Each night, I would read longer than I intended to because I had to find out what would happen to these strong women next. This is the perfect summer book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is historical fiction, based on an actual event. The setting is the Florida Keys in 1935, following the Great Depression. It’s Labor Day weekend and a Category 5 hurricane will hit Florida, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The most shameful part of history told is that of the Bonus Army. Veterans of The Great War protested and camped in Washington, DC to demand lump sum payments for their service as many still were not able to find work. They were driven out of Washington, some to Key West to work on a federal relief project.

The book is told from the viewpoints of three very different women, Helen, Mirta and Elizabeth. All three are running from something, or are they searching for something? It’s happenstance that they all meet, but their lives are deeply entwined.

Key West native Helen is pregnant, and has finally found the will to leave her abusive husband. Her baby is due any day, and she makes the decision that life can’t go on this way anymore. With the help of a stranger, Helen is off to her aunt’s home for refuge.

Cuban Mirta has left behind her once-wealthy family, choosing an arranged marriage to a nefarious man from New York. After backing the wrong political party in the Cuban Revolution, Mirta’s marriage will provide her family stability.

New Yorker Elizabeth comes from a wealthy family that lost it all in the market crash. I won’t tell you who she is searching for or why, but she feels an answer lies in one of the veteran labor camps.

A train was sent to evacuate the camps, but not in time. During evacuation, a storm surge swept the train off the tracks. I was able to find this image:

Estimates are that half of the 400 veterans died in the hurricane. Ernest Hemingway, then living in Key West, wrote an essay, “Who Murdered the Vets?” It’s a great article, and as timely today as ever.

I’ve read other reviews of the book, extolling the ending to the love stories of Helen, Mirta and Elizabeth. And I can’t seem to care. It is unsettling to me to find any happiness for these women as all I can think of is the veterans stuck away in a stinky, smelly s***hole.

www.candysplanet.wordpress.com

This was a good, atmospheric read - you'll want this one in your beach bag this summer (but check the weather for storms before you head to the beach!) Multiple engaging point of views made this a compulsive page-turner. I really enjoyed this and think many readers this summer will, too.

Three women from seemingly different backgrounds connect during a hurricane in 1935. As each woman tells her story, we learn about her life, and how she deals with the hurricane and its aftermath.

I didn’t expect to like this book; I thought it would be a frivolous little piece of writing. I was wrong! THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST by Chanel Cleeton is excellent. The plot, characterization, period details and writing make this a wonderful read.

The Last Train to Key West is a historical novel set in the Florida Keys in 1935, when the United States was exiting the Great Depression. The story revolves around three main characters, Mirta, a new bride from Cuba, Helen, a waitress in Key West, and Elizabeth, a socialite from New York. While they all have very different backgrounds, we experience their shared challenges, tragedies, and triumphs, all during a real-life storm of the century.

I really enjoyed this book. I visited the Florida Keys many times as a child, and I felt as if I were there. The historical elements are fascinating, and the pace exciting (during the storm). I cared about the characters and although not a big fan of romance, I liked the romance element here. I highly recommend this novel. It's a perfect beach read.

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance copy from NetGalley.

Last Train to Key West is the story of three different women whose lives intertwine during one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history. It is 1935 and people are still suffering from the the Great Depression. Helen is a Key West native who is 9 months pregnant and at a crossroads - her husband is no longer the man she once loved, she knows that she needs to do something to keep her baby safe. Elizabeth is in trouble. She needs to find the one man who might be able to help her out of the mess she's currently in. Mirta is in a new country, newly married to a man she doesn't know - aside from the rumors that he is a powerful man who makes his money through any means necessary. These women's lives will intercept by chance at a small cafe in Key West.

The Last Train to Key West was one of my most anticipated books of 2020, and it didn't let me down. This book was absolutely fabulous. The writing was everything I've come to expect from Chanel Cleeton and the story... Talk about the perfect mixture of heartbreaking and heartwarming. The journey these three women went on emotionally and physically showed just how strong and courageous they were. That was without the horrible hurricane that went on around them. That just added another fascinating aspect to the story. I had no previous knowledge of the hurricane that hit the area in 1935 or of the railroad that used to go to Key West. I felt like I learned so much by reading this book, and I loved that.

The Last Train to Key West is one of my favorite books I've read so far this year. If you enjoyed Next Year in Havana or When We Left Cuba, you're guaranteed to love this book. If you haven't read either of those two, you should and you should read this one as well. So. Dang. Good.

This series is one of my favorite to date. Captivating, swoony, and a beautiful experience. From the beautiful imagery to the melodic way the book is written I was enchanted from the first page. Very well done.

Having already read Next Year in Havana, but Chanel Cleeton with Reese Witherspoon Book of the Month Club, I jumped at the chance to get an ADR from NetGalley & Berkley Publishing Group.

This story is told from three differing prospectives, which includes Helen, who is pregnant and lives with her drunken husband, Tom. The second point of view is that of Mirta, who is Cuban born, but is a newlywed to Anthony, a known New York gangster. And the third point of view is Elizabeth, a former rich girl from New York, who came all the way to Florida in search of her long-lost half-brother.

The main part of the story takes place on Labor Day weekend with a major storm brewing. Moreover, the main players have their own dramas playing out all during this time, as well as that they all end up crossing each other’s paths during this stormy holiday weekend. Definitely, appreciated how the author interwove the characters and their tales. Plus, the storm or hurricane that ended up becoming central to the plot proved to be a central key to all.

Overall, this novel was just as good as Next Year in Havana if not even better than it.

Chanel Cleeton's newest book, The Last Train to Key West, follows three young women with very different pasts as their lives intertwine around the Overseas Railroad in 1935. Like her earlier books, there's a little history, a little romance, a little mystery and suspense and an overall enjoyable experience. I had never heard about the Labor Day Hurricane before, but this story made me want to learn more.

A holiday weekend three women--and the reader--will never forget. Giving us a glimpse of a moment in history few of us know, Chanel Cleeton once again pens a novel with her signature mastery of character and time.

Chanel Cleeton's books have been the highlight of my summers the last 2 years! I couldn't wait for the third to the Havana series and what perfect timing. I may not be in Havana (or anywhere tropical) but her writing transports you there in seconds. Her descriptions are effortless and always pull me right into the moment. I loved trying to figure out the connections between the 3 women this story followed.