Iona Iverson’s Rules of Commuting (2022) by Clare Pooley is an adult fiction novel first published in Great Britain under the title The People on Platform 5. The ensemble cast is held together by Iona Iverson, a middle-aged advice columnist who, one morning on her commuter train to London, witnesses Piers Sanders choking. Iona calls for help and Piers is rescued by Sanjay, an empathetic nurse, who has a crush on Emmie, a pretty young woman who works in advertising. Later, Martha, a bullied schoolgirl, joins the “train gang” as well. While the others depend on Iona for advice, Iona tries to hide her career and personal struggles as she confronts a reality very different from her glamorous past.

This guide uses the hardcover edition published by Pamela Dorman Books in the US in 2022.

Content Warning: The novel deals with ageism, brief mentions of suicidal ideation, abuse in romantic relationships, nonconsensual pornography, and anti-LGBTQ bias and discrimination.

Plot Summary

The story is told in third-person points of view alternating among a cast of characters that begins with Iona Iverson, 57, who works at a British women’s magazine. Though her younger editor is pressuring her to step back from her advice column, Iona still makes the daily train commute from Hampton Court to London, bringing her French bulldog, Lulu, with her. Though the general rule of commuting is not to acknowledge strangers, Iona intervenes when the well-dressed businessman across from her starts choking. Iona calls for help, and nurse Sanjay responds, dislodging the grape and saving Piers’s life while Emmie, a young advertising employee, looks on.

After this icebreaker, the characters begin a cautious acquaintance while facing secrets and challenges in their own lives. Iona, who is looking for ways to shore up her advice column, becomes the center of the group, hearing confessions and dispensing advice. Piers admits he hates his job. Sanjay, who has panic attacks when he feels unable to help his oncology patients, fancies Emmie, who is questioning her advertising career and fielding unkind messages from an anonymous “friend.” Martha, a year 10 student, makes an impression when she vomits on Piers’s laptop after learning a nude picture she sent to a boy has been shared around her entire class. David gets drawn into the group when he shares a note from his wife, who is threatening to leave him.

Over time, a “train gang” forms as friendships develop. After learning that Sanjay is attracted to Emmie, Iona attempts to set them up by inviting both to visit the hedge maze at Hampton Court Palace. This effort is thwarted when they learn Emmie has a possessive boyfriend, Toby. A disappointed Sanjay continues to struggle at work. Iona also steps in to help Martha by encouraging her to become known for something other than that picture. She helps Martha practice for auditions for the school play, drawing in personal trainer Jake. Martha also needs a tutor in mathematics, and Iona pressures Piers to volunteer.

Piers is hiding from everyone, including his wife, that he is in an increasingly desperate situation. In helping Martha, he rediscovers his love for numbers and his aptitude for teaching, a profession he thinks he might like. His wife, Candida, doesn’t want to give up their luxurious lifestyle. She is furious with Piers when she learns he was let go from his job, hid this from her, and lost most of his severance package in day trading. As Piers hits rock bottom, Candida steps in to help him fix their financial problems, but insists that Piers find a therapist.

Everyone wants to share with Iona. Piers wants advice on what to do next. Sanjay wants to apologize for rebuking Iona for trying to set him up with Emmie, and to ask for her help with his job. Emmie wants advice about her relationship: Toby proposes marriage, but he urges Emmie to work at home. Martha wants to share that she is cast as Juliet in the school play. Just when they all need her, Iona disappears from the train.

Despite her serene demeanor, Iona encounters humiliation and insults at work, namely from her editor Ed, who keeps suggesting that Iona is too old and unable to engage a more desired youthful audience. Iona has enjoyed getting input for her advice column from her new young friends, and she has a moment of triumph when she introduces a young TikTok influencer, Fizz, to the magazine. Ed is passed over at a lunch when the maître d’ embraces Iona, who was a much-admired socialite of the 80s and 90s, an “It Girl” who was paid to attend parties and then write about them in her social column. With her partner, Bea, a striking Black woman who was a dancer and actress, Iona enjoyed considerable popularity. She now struggles with feeling she is old and outdated. Finally, she is pushed to resign from the magazine, and in shame she hides out at home. The rest of the train gang decides to find her.

Emmie and Sanjay meet up early, but when Sanjay steps into a coffee shop to buy breakfast, he emerges to find Emmie has disappeared. Sanjay, Piers, David, and Martha locate Iona’s house. When she doesn’t answer the door, Piers climbs her back fence and makes her open up. Iona finally admits her real situation: She had to move Bea to a care home years ago to help treat Bea’s progressing Alzheimer’s, and now that she no longer has a job, Iona is worried about how to pay the fees. She feels better when her friends show they need her. Sanjay asks her advice about her panic attacks, and she urges him to find a support group at work. She arranges for Piers to visit her weekly so they can talk. She also offers Martha her house for doing homework and help rehearsing for the play.

Martha is surprised to see Piers, whose real name is Kevin, take a teaching position at her school as a math teacher. His wife announces she is leaving him. David, who is a lawyer, introduces Iona to a colleague who thinks she can sue the magazine for age discrimination. Sanjay tries avoiding Emmie on the train, but she confronts him to apologize about disappearing that day. She shares that Toby followed her in his car and demanded Emmie come home. Sanjay cautions her about the domestic violence injuries he has witnessed at work. Emmie begins to question Toby’s control over her and investigates his office one evening. She finds that Toby was the “friend” sending her anonymous messages and that, two years ago, he stole her wallet on the train so he could swoop in to rescue her when she was left stranded. Emmie packs a suitcase and shows up at Iona’s house, where Iona, who was a burlesque dancer in her first career, is teaching Martha and Sanjay the cancan.

Emmie lures Iona to a birthday party on the train, where all her friends give her gifts. David’s friend wins Iona a settlement from the magazine for forcing her to resign. Piers offers advice on how to invest. Martha gives Iona front-row tickets to opening night at her play. Emmie offers her advertising skills to reinvent “Ask Iona” as a video series. Iona thinks she is too old to reinvent herself, until she visits Bea, who reminds her not to be invisible or silenced. Iona agrees to let Emmie launch a new advice channel.

Each of the train gang finds resolution. Martha’s performance is a great success, and she confronts a bully. David repairs his marriage. Piers enjoys teaching and his simpler lifestyle. Sanjay invites Emmie on a date by having people on the platform hold up signs while her train passes by. Iona enjoys the success of her video advice channel and firmly rebuts her former editor when he tries reaching out. In the concluding chapter, Iona and Bea dance to their favorite song, recapturing their shared joy in one another.