[2] The work of British writer Barbara Comyns also influenced the novel.

[3] The novel takes place on a fictional train,[4] called the "Lucky Day" and Oyeyemi was "keen" from the outset of writing the book that it would be a "train book".

[5] While researching trains to write the book, Oyeyemi visited several of Ludwig II of Bavaria's castles.

[6] Sara Cutaia, in a review published by the Chicago Review of Books, referred to the novel as "delightfully weird and deliciously eccentric".

[7] Reviewers at other outlets, including NPR and Vox, also positively referred to the novel as "weird".