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THE PARIS EXPRESS

Emma Donoghue

From the author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling novel ROOM, a stunning historical novel inspired by what the author calls an early social media moment in the form of an iconic photograph.
1895, France. A packed train sets out from the countryside, to arrive at the Montparnasse train station, but from the outset there are many things that can go wrong. There is a young anarchist on the train with a bomb in her metal lunchbox. The First-Class carriage is not good enough for some aristocrats who bring their own snazzily outfitted carriage to hitch to the rest of the train, complete with hampers of luxurious food. This will of course delay the train, and to compound matters, the crew has been promised a hefty bonus if the train arrives at the station on time. So.a great ensemble of characters in third, second, first, and the aristo classsome fictional, some based on real 19th century figures. Amongst this fascinating cast is the train itself, who knows from the very beginning of the journey that something terrible is about to happen. Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She migrates between genres, writing for screen and stage, but she is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (The Wonder, Frog Music, Slammerkin, Life Mask, The Sealed Letter) to the contemporary (Akin, Stir-Fry, Hood, Landing). Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes. Donoghue also wrote the screenplays for the film version of Room, and for The Wonder, starring Florence Pugh, which is now playing on Netflix
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Published 2025-03-01 by Summit Press

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THE PARIS EXPRESS is Emma Donoghue at her best. Her lyrical prose, feel-it-in-your-bones setting, and captivating, page-turning plot-structure makes this one of the can't-miss historical novels of the year.

Clever, ambitious, and richly researched. A slice of 1890s Paris that makes us see that our modern problems aren't so modern after all! The Paris Express is a smartly structured novel that ratchets up the pace until it's hurtling along as fast as the doomed train itself.

Coming this March from Emma Donoghue, the "soul-stirring" (Oprah Daily) nationally bestselling author of Room. A sweeping, propulsive historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Head to @people for an exclusive first look (link in bio). Read more...

A fascinating cast of characters inhabit a train headed for Paris... and more. I loved how the passengers created historical context for that time in France; anarchists, feminism, chivalry, queer love, technology and science (and women in science) and the physics and politics of running trains. There's a lot brewing on this train, and the stories collide to create quite a page-turner!

Bestselling Room Author Emma Donoghue Returns With The Paris Express See the Cover! (Exclusive) Read more...

With THE PARIS EXPRESS Emma Donoghue has written a minor masterpiece in character study. Taking the form of 7 hours in the life of more than two dozen people aboard a doomed express train from Normandy to Paris, Donoghue could easily lose herself and her characters in the confusion of polyphonics, but even without a dramatis personae, each character is distinct and memorable, though we may not spend more than a few paragraphs every other chapter with them. Similarly, none of the characters seem two-dimensional or throwaway - a rare feat when no one averages more than ten pages across the whole of the book. Taking an historical catastrophe as the basis for this slim volume, Donoghue is able to maintain suspense and build to the runaway-train-like pacing that's needed for the climax of this book. Set in the fin de siecle (and much to be discussed about that phrase in the book), specifically October 22nd, 1895, Donoghue addresses much that is still relevant today - class disparity, patriarchy, anarchism, technological advances, international armament, social responsibility -, and some that is wonderfully quaint, with a handful of sly winks to the reader who is in the know - the French film industry, yellow journalism and fantastical tales, Marxism; so that while this is historical fiction and solidly reproducing its time beautifully, it is also speaking to the reader's experiences indirectly. Emma Donoghue strings her wire high, and is able to pull off her daring routine with aplomb and excellence, sure to delight her audience. In a word: graceful.

In 1991, a few months before I turned 11 and had my life changed by Nirvana, American rock band Mr. Big released Lean into It. The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 harts, and the single 'To Be With You' became the band's first and only #1 hit. The cover image is a picture from the Montparnasse train accident that occurred on October 22, 1895, in Gare Montparnasse station in Paris. It was both burned into my brain and completely ignored. Now, over 30 years later, master storyteller Emma Donoghue brings that photo and tragedy to life in a way no one could ignore. The Paris Express deserves that #1 spot too. You'll agree.