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Tim Wickenden
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That Girl in The Boxcar: An American Historical Family Saga (The Reisen Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Tim Wickenden (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

A suffocating secret may consume her.
A chance meeting offers salvation.
Will she sink into the dark or rise to the light?

Idaho 1925. Desperate and with nowhere to go, Heidi Schlager's life hangs in the balance. Growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father, the exhausted and traumatized teen, eager to flee home, stows away on a train where she encounters an aging hobo. And after the intelligent bookworm recites a poem to her literary companion, she sparks an instant friendship and delights in sticking together.

Riding to a town in Iowa to meet her new pal's sometime-lover, Heidi's unrelenting feelings of despair intrude on the warm friendship developing between the three. Plagued by powerful emotional conflicts, confusing sexual desires, and ghosts from her past threatening to drown her, she struggles with the temptation to give up.

Can this warm-hearted teen with no one to hold on to discover a found family to help her survive?

That Girl in The Boxcar is the sweeping first book in The Reisen historical fiction series. If you like courageous heroines, hopeful themes, and redeeming relationships, then you’ll adore Tim Wickenden's tale of self-discovery.

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  1. Book 1 of 1
    The Reisen Series
  2. Print length
    283 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    August 26, 2024
  6. File size
    2.9 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D1WJ1GN1
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Slugado Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2024
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.9 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 283 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 1 of 1 ‏ : ‎ The Reisen Series
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

About the author

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Tim Wickenden

Tim Wickenden

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Tim was born in Zimbabwe. He spent his early childhood there and in Hong Kong, returning to the UK age eight to attend boarding school, which he describes as ten years of hell. He spent his school holidays in West Germany becoming interested in that country’s turbulent history. A visit, age twelve, to the site of the former concentration camp inspired his article A Brief History of Bergen Belsen. Before moving into adult education, Tim worked in the IT sector. In 2005 he relocated to South West Wales, setting up a carpentry business, and began studying creative writing. He published his first historical novel Angel Avenger in 2019, with two more Take Back and That Girl in The Boxcar in 2024. His history article A Tale of Two Boys has been downloaded thousands of times and finally put an accurate date to a famous photograph of Hitler presenting awards to Hitler Youth boys. A passionate bookworm, Tim reads widely, and when he doesn’t have his nose in a book, he can be found walking or paddle-boarding the coast near his home, which he shares with his wife and son.

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
4 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Virginia Dill
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Breath of Fresh Air in Historical Fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2024
    Format: Kindle
    Wow! What a breath of fresh air and inspiration! Not to mention, an absolutely beautiful read!

    I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writer is new to me but he has earned a permanent place on my virtual and physical bookshelves. I read the book in one day; I simply couldn’t put it down.

    The narrative was so different, the writing style unique, and the characters so rich and well-developed, that I felt I was on their cross-country journey alongside them. With realistic semantics incorporated into the prose, I got a real feel for the life of a hobo, the joys of independent travel, and the horrors, too. I had never known or thought much about this lifestyle, although I knew it to be part of this era in history.

    Heidi, that Girl in the Boxcar, flees an abusive father, who is a drunk and a child and wife beater when a situation gets so out of hand, she has no choice and nowhere to go. Leaving a boyfriend behind, fifteen-year-old Heidi hops a train to worlds unknown, hungry, scared, and alone. She meets a guardian angel who becomes a friend and father to her, meeting a couple of other new ‘second family members’ along the way.

    None of us have any say in the type of first family we are born into, but this young girl has the spunk, the guts, and the gumption to create a new second family to help her cope with the horrors of the first. The writing is beautiful, the setting so vivid you feel the campfires burning, the desperation, the fears, and the personal traumas of each character Heidi meets along the way.

    I haven’t read such a great novel in a long time. I found it intriguing and easy to read all the way. And utterly captivating from the first chapter to the last. The plot was great, with plenty of twists and turns to keep me reading. The entire book captivated me and resonated, the story keeping me up half the night until I completed it.

    I highly recommend That Girl in the Boxcar for anyone wanting to read a different, well-researched, well-written story about a lifestyle in the 1930s that will have you waiting with anticipation for the next installment in the Reisen Series. I love discovering new authors and Tim Wickenden did not disappoint. The book 'literally' blew me away.

    Thank you to Book Sirens for the opportunity to get to know this new author via this ARC. My review is voluntary and is mine alone.
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  • B. Casas
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2024
    Format: Kindle
    I thoroughly enjoyed That Girl in the Boxcar because I loved the way the three main characters, who HAD no real family, came together and became family to each other.
    The length of the book was perfect. There was ample time to explore each character’s back story, then to venture into the building of each character’s new familial feelings being born and growing toward one another.
    The author’s writing style fit extremely well for his purpose in this book! I was fascinated with the use of the lingo “boes” might have used and how they relied on one another. Knowledge of how they moved from one place to another was very interesting and I can only imagine the author had to do a great deal of research to learn the lines used to get from one city or state to another.
    I truly enjoyed reading Tim Wickenden’s book and will be looking for others!

    I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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  • Deacon Tom
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Adventure
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2024
    Format: Kindle
    What a beautiful story! It was a cross country trip with Heidi and all the friends she meets along the way.

    The book uses the characters that come into Heidi’s to make this wonderful book incredible.

    It was a very fast read that kept my attention until the last syllable.

    Do not miss reading this book. I think it would make a fantastic movie.

    I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Fiona
    5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn’t put it down
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I loved this book. A story of courage, trust, love, friendship and adventure. It hasn’t all. Looking forward to the sequel 😊👍
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