Book

By day, Anne creates programs to empower, motivate and encourage people to reach their goals and aspirations. In her spare time, Anne writes novels to spark young people’s enthusiasm and passion for reading and historical events. Last Train Home is Anne’s first novel.

About the book

Alessa Janes is your average school kid. Each day, she finds herself navigating the challenges of growing up, her dysfunctional family, the local school bully, and of course, her high school crush. That is, until the day Alessa is swept into a portal and is transported back in time.

Details

Title: Last Train Home
Author: Anne Walters
Publisher: Anima Co
Release Date: December 2025
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781763612006

The time is 1939. It is the start of World War II. Alessa and her two friends, Newton and Ella, quickly discover they are in Czechia – in the midst of the war zone which is under German occupation. Uncertain about why they are there, the three children befriend a local boy, Gabriel, who is helping to safely transport 250 children to England on the ‘Winton Train’. Without Alessa, Newton and Ella’s help, the train will not reach its final destination.

With three cruel goddesses determined to stop her, Alessa finds herself swept into the adventure of a lifetime. Can she, Newton and Ella change the fate of the train and all its passengers? But is it even possible to alter the course of history?

About the Author
In 2020, Anne was awarded the NT Telstra Business Award for Public Sector and Academia for her work in promoting gender equity. In 2022, Anne received the Women’s Leadership Australia Award for Excellence in Leadership for the Northern Territory. In 2024, Anne was a finalist for the NT News Woman of the Year Award (Public Service and Academia).

Anne resides in Darwin, where she enjoys going on adventures and doing fun and slightly crazy activities with her two children, Bailey and Asha. Anne is an avid reader, a self-confessed science geek, and she has a love for walking along the beach.

Book orders
Last Train Home can now be ordered at a cost of $10 per book by contacting Anne. If you would like to know more, please feel free to contact Anne via email anne.walters@animaco.com.au.

I wanted to say congratulations on an excellent book. I’ve read it cover to cover and learned a lot about World War 2 and rescue of those children from Prague. I hadn’t heard about that before and I found it really interesting and gave me some good feelings about the human race in a troubling time. I also liked your character development, and the sprinkling of Greek mythology (one of my fav topics) – Sarah

I’ll be sad to finish it – Suzie

The book was really amazing and every time I picked it up to read it, I would read for about an hour because I couldn’t put it down – Indigo

Someone should make a miniseries out of it! – Rosa

It’s as if your characters had used some of the magic on me to keep on reading, it was constantly just one more chapter, I have to know what happened. I ended up finishing it in two reading sessions. I could not put it down. – Meg