A mixed bag that is based on the 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Emma weaved together fiction and fact in a way that made me very curious as to the going ons in society during this time period.

While the plot was slow at times, the characters who were difficult to keep up with initially, kept me going with all their quirks and conversations.

While this wasn’t my favourite historical fiction, I learnt something new as I had never heard of this train crash before.

An ill fated train and its raft of passengers and crew are the centrepiece of this novel - based on a true train crash and with a lot of feasible real people who weren’t necessarily on the real train but are inserted here for plausible extra storylines - I didn’t keep track but we read from the perspectives of circa twenty different people, I would say - as well as briefly hearing from the train itself. I was honestly pretty bored by this book for most of the way through, there was too much hopping about to get emotionally invested in anything, but by the end I had just about become sufficiently engaged with the motley crew of characters to enjoy the ending. It’s a strange one though because you are literally reading about one day in their lives, and for most of the characters it amounts to nothing more than a momentary excitement, as it was also to the newspapers of the world; but doesn’t have too much in the way of profound effect, with a couple of exceptions, one being the character of Mado. What I found more profound was reading the endnote and finding out how short lived many of the characters real lives were after the crash - it’s quite an assemblage. I’m not really sure this novel worked for me.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Pan Macmillan, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Emma Donoghue’s book Room and was excited to read her new book The Paris Express. I didn’t realise this was a historical thriller so was very different to her previous book I had read.

It took me a while to get into the book but I enjoyed it in the end- it follows a train derailment from 1985 in France. I found the characters interesting although there was a lot of characters to get my head around but the authors note at the end made it make a lot of sense.

I'm a massive fan of Emma's books and The Pull of the Stars was one of my top 10 favourites from last year so I can't even tell you how excited I was to receive this to read!

Intrigued? Here's what the book is about ⬇️

It is 1895, and Paris is as chaotic as it is glamorous. Industry and invention have created ever greater wealth and terrible poverty. One autumn morning, an anarchist boards the Granville to Paris express train, determined to make her mark on history.

Aboard the train are others from across the globe: the railway crew who have built a life together away from their wives, a little boy travelling alone for the first time, an artist far from home, a wealthy statesman and his invalid wife, and a young woman with a secret hidden under her dress.

All their fates are bound together as the train speeds towards the City of Light . . .

Inspired by a famous rail disaster, The Paris Express is a thrilling ride and a literary masterpiece that evokes an era not so different from our own.

Absolutely loved! Full of mystery, heartbreak and humanity. We already know what to expect but I still found myself shocked all the way through and hooked. Definitely recommend!

Many thanks to the author, Emma Donoghue, Netgalley, and Pan Macmillan for a digital ARC of The Paris Express, which was published on 20 March.
Based on a real incident in 1895, the story follows the train from its first stop in Brittany through to the terminus point in Montparnasse station, delving into the lives of the passengers on the train. The ensemble cast is skilfully handled, and as a reader, you get a sense of everyone’s characters and the key concerns of their lives at that time. The author weaves in real-life figures with invented characters, and they represent a cross-section of society too. We follow deputies returning to Paris for the new parliamentary section; a young girl who is afflicted with a mysterious illness; the Irish writer, JM Synge; a schoolboy who is travelling by himself for the first time...and an anarchist who dreams of inciting a new revolution. The pacing of the story is very clever and follows the train’s movements, beginning slowly and building an unstoppable momentum towards its climax.
While the book was very enjoyable and I found myself swept up in the story, I also expected more from the author in terms of style (it’s pretty nondescript), particularly as she’s marketed as being a literary writer. However, I would still recommend it, especially if you’re travelling yourself, or just looking for a story in which you can get wrapped up in for a few hours.

This book was such a joy - charming, transportive, moving and immersive. Set across a mere 6 hours on a train journey to Paris in 1895, this reliably well-crafted novel introduces the reader to a rich cast of intriguing characters, as well as a country (and world) on the precipice of immense change. Poignant and masterfully told, this is a total triumph.

A historical novel that follows the journey of the Paris Monparnasse express and its fateful journal from Granville Normandy in 1895. The story takes place on the train and explores the lives of the passengers as they embark on their journey. The characters were wide ranging and from all walks of life and I found their stories fascinating. However the story did jump around a bit and with so many characters I sometimes found it a little confusing, but overall a really enjoyable novel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

The fast train from Granville to Paris, ending at Montparnasse station.
We are introduced to a lot of characters and it is difficult to work out which characters are relevant to the story, but what an interesting group they are. The description of the drafty carriages, smells and sights, carry the story along.
The story starts with people waiting and then boarding the train, a lone boy Maurice is travelling alone and is anxious, a nervous young woman holds tight to her lunch pail, an oystercatcher sells her wares and the staff prepare the train for the journey. The train has to make an unscheduled stop to pick up a specially adapted carriage for an invalid and her rich industrialist husband. People talk on the journey and some frictions arise, attractions take place and tempers fray. Madeline has a secret agenda and readies herself to carry it out. Blonska a kindly Russian woman realises that everyone's life is in danger, meanwhile helping a girl to give birth to her daughter in a crowded carriage.
Quite tense but sometimes hard to identify the different characters.
Thank you Emma, NetGalley and Picador for this ARC

Very mixed feelings about this book when I started reading as it just launched itself at you. Initially I found all the different characters quite confusing and difficult to follow the story line. However gradually I became used to the pace of the story and the clever way the author paced it as if you were on the train with the passengers and crew. I became engaged in the lives of the various people and the insights into their lives and reasons for travelling on that particular train. By the last quarter of the book I had invested in all the characters and wanted to know how they would fare when the train crashed.

There’s something cinematic about the way this book is written but I was ultimately disappointed, especially as I really loved other novels I've read written by Donoghue. Set in 1895, a vast array of deftly-described characters are introduced one-by-one (though too rapidly to be interested in them individually) in a short space of time, who all board the express train from Normandy to Paris which eventually reaches a tragic demise. This is a book that requires patience from the reader and, given the other reviews, I’m sure is ultimately a fulfilling read. Unfortunately I’m not in the right headspace for this currently so had to give up a fifth of the way through. I think it would work well as a film however.

I really enjoyed this.

The Paris Express follows one train journey, one train, journeying across France with a wealth of characters onboard - the driver, fireman and guards - all with their own stories and reasons to why this is their job; the rich passengers in first class, including the family who has their private carriage attached on partway through the journey; the third class poor, sharing their food and stories; and hidden amongst them all, the one who intends to end the journey of them all.

This story has historical context, many of the characters are based on real-life individuals, and there was an incident of this kind on which the story is based. I liked the added bonus of the photograph showing the train, which really fleshed out history. A really interesting and gripping read.

Emma Donoghue’s carefully-crafted, historical novel’s set on a train travelling from Granville in Normandy to Paris. Although Donoghue’s story is rooted in actual events, a train derailment that took place in October 1895, she’s more interested in the train as “a visual parable of progress and speed and modernity gone wrong.” Part of the way this concept plays out is through Donoghue’s diverse cast from rail workers to bourgeois families to bohemian artists, writers and performers. A cast that forms a microcosm of late nineteenth-century French society, opening up commentaries on issues ranging from racism and imperialism, emerging technologies, gender to class divides.

Donoghue's material, the numerous insights into political and cultural complexities in France in the years leading up to the Fin de siècle were often striking and informative – I was impressed by the research underpinning Donoghue’s story and her attention to detail from allusions to the Dreyfus Affair to her near-seamless incorporation of historical figures as key passengers. I also liked the way in which elements of classic French literature were woven into the text – Donoghue’s portrayal of the impoverished, sanguine Blonska wouldn’t seem out of place in a novel by Zola. But ensemble pieces can be tricky especially when there’s no obvious overarching plot tying everything together – unlike Murder on the Orient Express where it’s clear everyone has a part to play in the unravelling mystery. Here there’s so much space devoted to sketching out each individual character’s traits and background that the underlying plot – which involves young anarchist Mado who’s planning a desperate, political act – tends to get lost. So that this felt more like a collection of vignettes strung together than it did a unified narrative - I sometimes found myself fast forwarding through scenes featuring characters I found less compelling. However, for anyone who likes trains and/or has an interest in the period I think it’s still very much worth exploring.

A beautifully written. Immersion read that really brought the characters to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and the setting was so atmospheric.

Poignant, heartbreaking and tragic - this was a stunning read.

I do not very often pick up mystery novels set in the 19th century, preferring instead to read contemporary domestic noir, but The Paris Express came highly recommended by fellow readers as well as my admiration for the author’s enormous skill and empathy demonstrated in her earlier novel ‘Room’), and it did not disappoint. The most intriguing aspect of this novel is that its timeline is only 6 hours and obviously deals with the derailment of the Granville-to-Paris-express. This is an ease of reference that is offset by the huge cast that is introduced throughout the novel’s pages. Each is depicted in Donoghue’s careful, sensitive prose, and among the most fascinating characters were Mado Pelletier, a young woman secretly carrying a bomb with her, a brilliant medical student by the name of Marcelle de Heredia who (a bit like Dürrenmatt’s dramatic character Möbius) sees the double coin of scientific discovery, and Russian emigré Blonska who turns out to be a genuine lifesaver to her fellow passengers. That some of these characters are based on actual eye witnesses endorses the depth of research Donoghue has undertaken, coupled with the literary talent to bring her characters to life once more. Her collection of character studies deserves a huge and discerning readership! Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this most special of novels.

An astonishing book, both in its story (which has its basis in fact) and in the skill of Emma Donoghue’s writing and characterisation. An express steam train roars through the French countryside, with its drivers, coal men, conductors and sundry other employees whose only aim is to get the train to Montparrnasse on time. There are many annoyances that could prevent that happening, but what transpires hadn’t even entered any of their minds! The reader gets to know the wide cast of characters well as the journey progresses and it is not without its dramas. The sense of place in this novel is exceptionally fine and it is peopled with characters so real they become visible in the reader’s eye - the mark of a very fine writer indeed.

As the express train to Paris hurtles through the countryside, the country it passes is in the process of change. Aboard are a varying group of crew and passengers from the Russian emigre to the pregnant unmarried woman, the motor car pioneers to the emergent artist. Also on board is a would-be anarchist and her deadly bomb which she plans to set off during the journey. However, as storylines weave, the ending is inevitable.
This is a terrific short novel. The characters are beautifully fleshed out and, although obvious, the ending has a lovely little twist. In fact this story is based on a true even in 1895 when a train failed to stop and plunged through the Gare de Montparnasse.

Sharing the journey of the Paris Express and its passengers as they head towards Montparnasse Station is fascinating.
Fast paced, blending fiction and fact with skill.

An immersive read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Paris Express

Absolutely wonderful! A true story made into fiction which brings the original happening to life, with characters that could have been on the train at the time and back stories of their lives. I thoroughly enjoyed this and did more research about the Paris Express as a result!

Of all the Emma Donoghue books I've read (Room, Frog Music, The Pull of the Stars), this is my favourite. I think it's her sensitivity to historical elements and the characterisation of the people, both real and fictional, that come across as authentic as if written at the time the story was set. It feels proper, regarding social etiquette, habits, clothing of the time, and easily transports the reader on this train journey. All the characters are enhanced by her meticulous eye for detail.

The Paris Express is based on the 1895 Paris Montparnasse train station disaster. I knew nothing of it in advance and am happy for that as the tension builds without restraint of foreknowledge. As the journey neared Paris, any number of perils could befall the train and her occupants and I was gripped by it.

Beautifully written, Ms. Donoghue never disappoints with her amazing talent. Best of all the characters, both real and made up. I loved the details at the end of the book about the real people, what they did, where they went after and the knitting together of stories that may or may not be linked. It was an added bonus that enhanced the story.

Set in the late 20th century, The Paris Express is a brilliant piece of historical fiction. The story unfolds as a train departs from Grenville in eastern France and heads toward Paris. Through the intertwined lives of the passengers, the novel provides a fascinating glimpse into French society of the era. Despite the large cast of characters, the plot is masterfully structured, following the trajectory of the journey and keeping the pace engaging. While the ominous sense of an inevitable tragedy looms over the story, the specific outcome remains a mystery, adding tension and depth to the narrative.