The Paris Express
A Novel
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3.9 • 24 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the author of Room, The Wonder, and The Pull of the Stars comes a taut and suspenseful historical novel that reimagines an 1895 French railway disaster, an event famously documented in dramatic photographs
The Paris Express is set over a single day, as the morning train travels from the Normandy coast to the capital. Men, women, and children from all over the world take their seats in the passenger cars, which are divided by wealth and status. Among the passengers is an anarchist intent on destruction, a young boy travelling alone, a pregnant woman fleeing her home village for the anonymity of the big city, a medical student who suspects a girl may have a fatal disease, and the railway crew, devoted to the train, to the company, and to each other.
Based on an 1895 catastrophe that was captured in a series of surreal photographs, The Paris Express is a thrilling ride and a literary masterpiece full of the politics, fears, and chaos of an era not unlike our own.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Emma Donoghue (Room) transforms a real French train disaster into an illuminating and intimate panorama of late 19th-century life, where class divides and personal ambitions are all hurtling toward the same moment in history. Aboard a train bound for Paris in 1895, dozens of strangers—politicians, artists, lovers, and dreamers—share a single, fateful journey. What’s remarkable is how alive every carriage feels. Donoghue’s characters reflect a world in motion, when technological breakthroughs, social unrest, and the exciting first flickers of cinema feel like they’re all about to transform everything. Her immersive prose captures that restless energy, and she seamlessly incorporates several real passengers into her story, including the contemplative African American artist Henry Tanner. Inventive and deeply moving, The Paris Express is both a thrilling historical journey and a thoughtful meditation on the importance of connection and chance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A French anarchist targets a passenger train in the taut latest from Donoghue (Learned by Heart), which is inspired by a true story. On Oct. 22, 1895, Mado Pelletier boards the express from Granville to Paris with a homemade bomb in tow. Born into poverty, she's furious over the plight of the working class, which is made all the more plain to her by the arrangement of the train's carriages: first-class passengers are placed at the center of the train to cushion the blow in the event of a crash. ("This train is a moving image of the unfairness of the long con of life," she thinks.) Three members of Parliament are riding in first class, and Mado hopes that by assassinating them, she will send a message to the ruling class. But as the locomotive speeds toward Paris, Mado meets her fellow passengers and questions whether she can follow through with her plan. Through shifting points of view—including that of the train engine itself—Donoghue establishes an intricate web of human relationships as the narrative speeds toward an unexpected yet plausible finale. Along the way, she offers detailed commentary on the railway's cynical exploitation of its workers, enriching the themes raised by Mado's critique. Readers ought to jump on board.
