Combining mobile and location technology, consumer surveys, and third-party data, The People Platform allows brands to understand and engage with consumers at scale. With ageism, bullying, anxiety, dementia, and sensitive relationship issues to cover it's easier to digest these hard topics when served with a happy dose of humor on the side.

What bugs me though is that I think this book falls prey to wanting to tackle too many issues, and not everything working seamlessly together.

To be honest, that sense of being enveloped in love and support is so profoundly present in The People on Platform 5 that it often feels like a great big warm hug; that’s not meant in any kind of flippant way at all but rather in the sense that being made to feel like you belong and matter is the one of the most powerful things you can do for anyone.

Clare’s debut novel The Authenticity Project is inspired by her decision to expose the rather grubby truth about her seemingly perfect life in her memoir. She’s the oldest person in her office, battling to prove her relevance, while also facing issues in her relationship at home. The wondrously good thing about The People on Platform 5 is that for all the magic of the narrative, it also feels really down to earth and quite real.When timid Jersey crab Armen (Michael Cera) meets bold tourist sea crab Ramona (Keke Palmer), it causes shell-shocking tension in the community.

The People on Platform 5 is Clare's second novel, inspired by her fascination with inventing stories about her fellow passengers on her commute to work. It’s full of second chances, connections, friendship, forgiveness, honesty, and proof that people aren’t always just as they appear. Her editor decides the magazine needs to attract a younger demographic and soon she's put on notice. Riding at the same time on the same trains together is, hands-down, the best thing that happens to all of them. But when Piers chokes on board, the passengers must put their unspoken rules and preconceived assumptions aside.I was not expecting there to be so many POV's, but they all meshed together to create this wonderfully quirky and hodgepodge quilt of human experience. This book tackles so many interesting themes, all with Clare's trademark humour, wonderful writing, and vibrant, loveable characters - Feel-good fiction at its best. And while it's relatively well written and paced, the predictability of characters and plot are disappointing. The People on Platform 5 is published by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, and retails for R328 at Exclusive Books. A remotely plausible plot, interesting, evolved characters and enough twists to keep the reader engaged.

I had a warm and fuzzy feeling in my belly the entire time I was reading about Iona and the random commuters she meets on the train. From a same-sex couple to an Asian main character, a variety of lived experiences are represented, thanks to the use of multiple points of view. What would it be like to be looking for your footing as a 50-something, feeling generationally out of place in your job? Very much enjoyed this but the only niggle is that the main character, who is in her fifties, is portrayed as if she’s in her eighties! Clare Corbett the narrator, did a superb job In bringing the characters to life with her many voices.This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people, with almost nothing in common except their commute, discover that talking to strangers on the train might be uncomfortable and awkward, but it can challenge all of their assumptions and prejudices, and could even transform their life.