Last Train to Margate

At 50 years old Poppy was finally ready to leave London and embark upon a new adventure, the little seaside resort of Margate was calling. Elderly Aunt Flora had offered her a home at rambling Lookout Retreat, and it was time for Poppy to mend all of her broken pieces. When she noticed the small card in the window of the Madam Popoff Vintage Emporium informing the curious public, “Part time help required. Only special people need apply,” Poppy is drawn into a world of wonder, magic and true healing. As the clocks ticked on Poppy often asked herself, “ Who is Madam Popoff? Gypsy? Angel? Time Traveler? Gate Keeper?”

Later, reflecting upon her first year at the Madam Popoff Vintage Emporium, Poppy looked down at her own long slender fingers and her delicate hands -- working with Madam had taught her the importance of her hands. She had learned to feel her way through life, discern stories and ownership just by touching the things that crossed Madam’s threshold. Poppy acknowledged that there’s a silver thread that connects people, places, events and time. She was also beginning to understand the mysteries of healing. She knew in her heart that being in Margate had set her upon a path of healing herself, but more than this she was learning how she might be of assistance to others in distress.

Poppy had become privy to many stories: an exquisite art deco clutch bag decorated with beaded irises blowing in the wind connected her to the Margate lifeboat and the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk. A little gold donkey brooch with a seed pearl eye connected her to the trenches, the futility and utter devastation of the First World War. A faded, yet still jaunty, knitted Superman doll connected her to 1972 and a little boy suffering from severe spinal malformation. His adventures with Superman helped him to live vicariously in a world outside the confines of a spinal cast. An old Beatles album connected Poppy to The Royal School for Deaf Children, the 1963 Beatles performance in Margate, and with two deaf friends who were inseparable.

One day a little booklet called “The Twelve Healers,” by Dr. Edward Bach published in 1933 crossed Madam’s threshold, and Poppy also began to learn about the superior healers of mankind. As she grew in wisdom and knowledge Poppy accepted that in the end three things matter; how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

This book is about the passage of time and a lovely little seaside resort but it could be any town, anywhere in the world. It’s about life and the ups-and-downs we all experience. Stories explore sorrow and joy, hardship and loss. There are people who leave behind a legacy of kindness, sacrifice and courage. Other people suffer from the repercussions that overindulgence and selfishness bring. The forces of light and darkness are explored along with the notion that perhaps Madam Pop...