1900s Novel: Edith Nesbit - The Railway Children (Audiobook)
Channel: Enhanced Public Domain
Date: 2024-02-04

The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known.

Characters:
Father: A high-ranking civil servant, very intelligent and hard-working, and a devoted husband and father. He is wrongfully imprisoned for espionage, but is eventually exonerated.
Mother: A talented poet and writer of children's stories. She is devoted to her family, and she is always ready to help others in need. She is also a homely type.
Roberta: Nicknamed "Bobbie", she is the oldest and most mature of the three children, and the closest in personality to their mother. She has a lot of qualities that help people a lot.
Peter: The middle child and only boy. He considers himself the leader and leads in crisis situations.
Phyllis: The youngest and least mature of the children.
Ruth: A servant of the family, dismissed early in the story for her treatment of the children.
Mrs Viney: Housekeeper at The Three Chimneys.
Mrs Ransome: Village postmistress.
Aunt Emma: Mother's elder sister, a governess.
The Old Gentleman: A director of the Great Northern and Southern Railway (GN&SR), who befriends Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis and helps when their mother is sick. He is instrumental in freeing Father, and in locating Mr Szczepansky's family. He is the grandfather of Jim.
Albert Perks: The station porter, and a friend of the children. He enjoys their company, but his pride sometimes makes him stuffy with them. He lives with his wife and their three children. Very knowledgeable about the study of railways and other areas.
Mrs Perks: Wife of Albert Perks.
Dr Forrest: A country physician. He is rather poor, but nevertheless provides affordable care for Mother during her illness.
The Stationmaster: Perks' boss. Rather pompous at times, but has a good heart.
Bill (driver): An engine driver and friend of the children.
Jim (fireman): Bill's fireman, and a friend of the children. He arranges for one of his relatives to mend Peter's toy locomotive.
The Signalman: Operator of the railway signal box. He has a young child who is sick.
Mr Szczepansky: A dissident Russian intellectual, imprisoned in Siberia for his views, who escapes to England to seek his wife and children.
Bill (bargeman): A barge-master, initially hostile towards the children. He changes his attitude towards them after they save his boat (with his baby son Reginald Horace aboard) from burning.
Bill's Wife: She disapproves of her husband's initial attitude towards the children, and encourages them to fish in the canal while he is not around.
Jim (schoolboy): The grandson of the Old Gentleman, whom the children rescue when he breaks his leg in the railway tunnel during a paper chase.