Out of the Tunnel, by Rachel North

Last weekend I consumed Rachel North's book about her experience of the 7/7 bombings, and it blew me away.

Here's the review I've just written for the Bookarazzi site:


Out of the Tunnel, by Rachel North

Rachel North is a woman to feel sorry for. Three years after being the near-dead victim of a horrific rape, she found herself in a tube carriage, on 7th July 2005. The only thing which saved her from death was the crush of passengers between her and the suicide bomber a few feet away.

You would expect her story to make you cry, and feel immense pity.

I didn’t. But I did find myself utterly gripped from the moment I started reading. I was carried along by this extraordinary woman’s ability to tell a story, by wanting to know what would happen next - despite knowing most of it already.

And far from feeling pity I felt admiration, and was inspired. She has felt anger, of course she has. And despair, and fear, and sick dread. But she has never drawn the conclusion that Islam is to blame, and the last thing she wants is to fear her neighbours. And despite the pull of pessimism, she tries to focus on the people in the dark. Those fellow tube passengers who never even looked at each other until they faced that horror together and held each other’s hands.

I consumed Out of the Tunnel eagerly, and what I got was an honest, touching and beautifully-written account, not just of suffering but of how to keep going and why, even if you have had your life threatened twice by random strangers, it’s still worth trusting your fellow man.


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