Monisha Rajesh
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monisharajesh.bsky.social
Monisha Rajesh
@monisharajesh.bsky.social
760 followers 170 following 72 posts
Author of Around the World in 80 Trains, Around India in 80 Trains and Epic Journeys
Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train published in August
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monisharajesh.bsky.social
Monisha Rajesh @monisharajesh.bsky.social · Apr 18
Super excited that my new book Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train is available for pre-order from @qpbooks.bsky.social - signed with personalised dedications if you wish. Please get your orders in from lovely indies like them!

www.welbooks.co.uk/shop/p/moonl...
Moonlight Express by Monisha Rajesh — West End Lane Books
Signed and Dedicated Pre-Order Hardback Published 28th August From the author of the smash-hit Around the World in 80 Trains comes a new globetrotting journey - this time celebrating the pec...
www.welbooks.co.uk
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
snig.bsky.social
I see the 2021 scandal around Kate Clanchy's book "Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me" is back in the news as Clanchy receives an apology from the publisher of that book. Here's a reminder of the racism, Islamophobia, anti-LGBT comments, and fat shaming from the book.
"Like all the Syrian kids, she is very pretty: pale skinned & dark eyed with a sensitive mouth & a tiny, high-pitched voice." p263 "Izzat so small & square & Afghan with his big nose & premature moustache." p139 "Aadil always seems so grand: a tall Somali boy with a deep, African voice, & the almost aristocratically calm manner that sometimes goes with being extremely good-looking." p85 "Cumar is long & slender as many of the Somali kids are, with a thin nose, narrow skull, & very dark, almost black skin. Aadil is more muscular & square-set, with chocolate-coloured skin, a broad-based nose, & rounded head." p85 "Jonathon, six-foot five inches tall with a slow, resonant African accent." p78 & "Tall, strong, African Jonathon." p243 "The small round Priti & her taller, silent cousin, Priya." p93 "She would call out to me for words, urgently, her black, almond-shaped eyes snapping, slim fingers blossoming." p108 All so different from "my Nordic height & Celtic colouring". Hijabs Clanchy thinks about hijabs - a lot. "I wonder again what Shakila does to her hijab, & why it seems to sit fuller & higher than the other girls' - a Mother Superior hijab, or one from Vermeer. It can't be starched. Maybe it's draped over twisted horns of hair like Carrie Fisher's in Star Wars. That would go with her furry eyebrows, her slanting, sparkling black eyes, her general, Mongolian ferocity." p78 "Her high-set, starched hijab - did she have extra ears under there?" p109 "It is possible to wear a flirty hijab, like Samira's leopard-patterned one. & that Farida's dress may be loose & floor-length, but it still manages to show the beautiful lines of her figure when she hitches it tight around her as she sits by the basketball courts." p117 "If I could put a burqa on Susie & Kristell tomorrow, I would. A year or two of being invisible to the male gaze, of going home quietly to study, could only be liberating, & enabling too, of the rest of their lives... It's important to say that nothing that Susie or Kristell ever wear, however brief, entitles them to any abuse, ever." p165 LGBTQI+ Clanchy is supportive of gay pupils, although she's hampered by stereotypes & sees camp as a "statement of otherness". Nevertheless, she takes an 18-year old to his first gay club, which she admits wouldn't be acceptable now. She sends him in with the words: ""Liam,' I said, 'I love you. You have to promise me to always use a condom & never get AIDS." p33 But she's more dismissive of trans pupils. Like much of what she writes, I understand the concern she's raising, but the tone is trivialising: "Are we all 'fluid' now? Perhaps. It is commonplace to proclaim oneself transsexual. & to actually be gay, especially if you are as pretty as Kristen Stewart is positively fashionable. A couple of kids have even changed gender, a decision so deliciously of the moment, so furiously defended by righteous students against non-existent opposition from staff that I worry only that they won't feel the freedom to change back if they feel the need." p34 Weight All the critical comments about weight are applied to girls, & most are in a section about health. Clanchy tries to include a compensatory compliment, but there are weird sexualising & classist undercurrents: "When Kristell arrived in Year 9, she had a bosomy, curvy figure, with a tiny waist & pretty ankles... She had a soft, breathy voice to match the Bambi lashes & fresh mouth." p237 Later "She has put on a great deal of weight, so that the pretty figure is blurred... The dark eyes gazing out of the fat pink cheeks are still so very lovely." p238-9 "Danielle really was special: she was exquisitely pretty in the dark & elfin, Audrey Hepburn mode. She knew it too; she was always finding occasion to take off her clothes & expose her pale, beautifully turned limbs." p233 Later "As if refusing middle-class food along with middle-class ambition, Danielle put on weight... her new bosom protruding ever more bulbously... I was surprised how hurt I was to see it. It wasn't the flesh so much as the loss of grace." p234 I know what she means with this next one, & there is a valid point. It's probably intended to be self-deprecating & tongue-in-cheek, but... "Lianne is stuffing fig rolls, my favourite, into her pretty fat face, & it is very hard indeed not to have one. I can manage it, I think, in the same way that I can manage to finish a poem, because I am middle class. Because, since I was a tiny child, I have been taught to wait for long-term goals." p235
November 4, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
karenattiah.bsky.social
Strength training is political. We have a right-wing which has taken over physical fitness spaces, and hijacked “warrior culture”.

We need a muscular progressivist visions. We need to be strong to build the world we want.

Building my guns for the revolution. 💪🏾✊🏾 #Swoletariat #ResistanceTraining”
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
nikosetala.bsky.social
Went for an evening walk and to fetch a book delivery. The ferry from Tallinn was arriving in the moonlight. And I got some new #train #books by the wonderful @monisharajesh.bsky.social !
The Eckerö Line ferry m/s Finlandia is approaching the harbour in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki. It's dark, the illuminated quay is on the left and there is an orange moon in the sky. Two new hardback books on a desk. On the left Untold Railway Stories edited by Monisha Rajesh. On the right Moonlight Express by Monisha Rajesh.
October 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
unseenhistories.com
When the first railways were introduced in the early 19th century they were regarded as objects of wonder, but the 1940s western Europe's developed rail network played a significant role in the Holocaust.

@monisharajesh.bsky.social recounts the story of one young boy who survived this persecution👇
Escaping Auschwitz - Unseen Histories
From 'Untold Railway Stories', comes the story of a boy's escape from Auschwitz.
www.unseenhistories.com
September 23, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
jinireddy.bsky.social
‘They’d allowed me to enter realms of darkness, guiding me through and showing me beauty where my fears once lay.’ - @monisharajesh.bsky.social on the gift of night trains, in her new and lovely book, Moonlight Express. #travelwriting
September 21, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
markonthemaps.bsky.social
10 #train travel tales you never knew: it's The Untold Railway Stories, a new compendium out today, edited by @monisharajesh.bsky.social. Today interviewed co-authors Jack Curtis (carbonjacked.com) & journalist @felicityspector.bsky.social (in Kyiv for @channel4news.bsky.social). Gripping stuff!
Front cover of new book The Untold Railway Stories shows modern fast train wit orange and red background. Design guru Massimo Vignelli signs a copy of his revised New York Subway digram for author Ovenden
September 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
theonion.com
‘New York Times’ Announces New Columnist Will Contribute Nothing To Society 3 Times A Week
‘New York Times’ Announces New Columnist Will Contribute Nothing To Society 3 Times A Week
September 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
monisharajesh.bsky.social
Hurrah! Lovely review of Moonlight Express by Christian Wolmar in @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/star...
Starry starry night: the return of the sleeper train
The railways have survived into the 21st century by constantly reinventing themselves. Written off all too frequently by parsimonious politicians as a 19th-century invention made redundant by the car ...
www.spectator.co.uk
September 2, 2025 at 7:39 AM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
Parisian pals I will be at @shakespeareandcompany.com on Thursday evening this week talking about Moonlight Express with the lovely Adam Biles. Free entry so please come along!
www.shakespeareandcompany.com/events/monis...?
Monisha Rajesh on Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train
For our first event of the autumn, let Monisha Rajesh take you for a nocturnal adventure on some the world's most fascinating sleeper trains. In conversation with Adam Biles. Free & open to all. Place...
www.shakespeareandcompany.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
monisharajesh.bsky.social
For the next seven days 💯 of my sales of Moonlight Express will be donated to Wesam Rajab, the mother of five-year-old Hind Rajab. Here’s why www.instagram.com/reel/DOTOfrr...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
September 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
For the next seven days 💯 of my sales of Moonlight Express will be donated to Wesam Rajab, the mother of five-year-old Hind Rajab. Here’s why www.instagram.com/reel/DOTOfrr...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
September 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
paulclammer.bsky.social
Thrilled to get a copy of @monisharajesh.bsky.social's new book 'Moonlight Express' - and even more so to be in conversation with her about it at Stanfords Bristol on 30 September!
Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train' by Monisha Rajesh Flyer for an event at Stanfords Bristol bookshop on 30 September 2025, with author Monisha Rajesh talling about her book 'Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train'.
September 6, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
joemcalinden.bsky.social
You know you’re excited to read a book when you end up using the receipt as a bookmark.

The dream… travel around the world on sleeper trains ✊🏻

#books #nowreading #booksky

@monisharajesh.bsky.social
September 6, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
stanfordstravel.bsky.social
Full house yesterday for Moonlight Express Event! Big thank you to @monisharajesh.bsky.social and @danzep.bsky.social for an engaging discussion on travel, Moonlight Express and so much more! Thank you everyone for joining us.
September 4, 2025 at 3:10 PM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
Hurrah! Lovely review of Moonlight Express by Christian Wolmar in @thespectator1828.bsky.social
www.spectator.co.uk/article/star...
Starry starry night: the return of the sleeper train
The railways have survived into the 21st century by constantly reinventing themselves. Written off all too frequently by parsimonious politicians as a 19th-century invention made redundant by the car ...
www.spectator.co.uk
September 2, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
louiestowell.bsky.social
Smashing launch last night for Moonlight Express by Monisha Rajesh; a book about travelling by night train (something I've never done but long to do). Loving the book - also loved Monisha's speech about the strangeness of publishing a book amid a genocide.
Daunt Marylebone's window display of Moonlight Express, with lots of copies aginst a patterned, stepped background. A can of Palestine cola on a drinks table at the launch Monisha Rajesh giving her speech on the balcony at Daunts
August 29, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
shafikmeghji.bsky.social
Congratulations to @monisharajesh.bsky.social for the launch of her brilliant new book Moonlight Express at @dauntbooks.bsky.social last night. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy and can highly recommend it 🚂

www.stanfords.co.uk/moonlight-ex...
A copy of Monisha Rajesh’s new book Moonlight Express.
August 29, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
stanfordstravel.bsky.social
The wait is over! Happy publication day to @monisharajesh.bsky.social and her highly anticipated new book Moonlight Express 🚂 We're thrilled to reveal our gorgeous celebratory window illustration by Bee Davies Illustration 🍾

#moonlightexpress
August 28, 2025 at 9:35 AM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
***PUBLICATION DAY TOMORROW***

Tons of signed copies of MOONLIGHT EXPRESS available at Waterstones Piccadilly! Foyles Charing Cross, Waterstones Tot Court Rd, and Queens Park Books.
August 27, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
stanfordstravel.bsky.social
Only TWO tickets left for @monisharajesh.bsky.social event 🚨 Grab yours before it sells out!
stanfordstravel.bsky.social Stanfords Travel @stanfordstravel.bsky.social · Aug 15
Save the date! Join us on September 3rd with Travel Writers Monisha Rajesh and Dan Richards for a not-to-missed event celebrating Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train , Monisha Rajesh's highly anticipated new book about the magic of night trains 🚂

www.stanfords.co.uk/event-moonli...
August 27, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
ravenbooks.bsky.social
Following the bestselling Around the World in 80 Trains, Moonlight Express: Around the World by Train by Night
bsky.app/profile/moni...
August 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
bladeofthes.bsky.social
Absolutely brilliant, well done Team GB Paralympians.
August 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
Continuing with the theme of night trains: I took the Santa Claus Express to Finnish Lapland with my kids and it didn’t quite go to plan. The rest of the tale is in Moonlight Express! observer.co.uk/style/travel...
Baby on board: four families on intrepid travels with kids
Spontaneous travel and outdoor adventures with kids... how hard could it be? Four families find out
observer.co.uk
August 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by Monisha Rajesh
jonworth.eu
Ah! @monisharajesh.bsky.social ‘s night train book is out next week. Preview in The Guardian here www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

I’ve seen an early draft, and the chapter about Finland alone is so spot on that just that justifies buying it 😀
Sleeper hit: how Europe is revelling in the return of the night train
With a bucket list of journeys that would take her from Palermo to Trondheim and Istanbul, our writer rekindles her love affair with long-distance train journeys
www.theguardian.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
monisharajesh.bsky.social
As the publication of Moonlight Express approaches, I wrote a love letter to night trains. Because, well, I really do love them so much!
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...
Sleeper hit: how Europe is revelling in the return of the night train
With a bucket list of journeys that would take her from Palermo to Trondheim and Istanbul, our writer rekindles her love affair with long-distance train journeys
www.theguardian.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:19 PM