The Paris Express

Emma Donoghue has a brand new book out today: The Paris Express, set in 1895 and inspired by a shocking train crash at the Montparnasse station. With a wide cast of characters drawn from real historical figures, this book is at once a snapshot of people on one seemingly normal day of life, and a drawn-out suspense at what will happen to them in an instant.

Why I Chose This Book:

Anything Emma Donoghue writes, I will read. I’ve loved three of her books so far, and have others waiting to be read, and I was excited to read this one set in Paris and inspired by true events.

What I Liked:

• Wide array of characters. This is both a pro and a con, but I love the little snapshots of people in the midst of life. We don’t know their full history or their future, but we see who they are for these few hours on a train.
• A collage that makes up 1895 France. Going off the previous point, it feels like mosaic of what the world was like at the end of the 19th century in France—from art and inventions to medical advancements and political protests.
• A book in motion. Chapters are the times of the train’s halts and departures. This mimics the characters whose lives are moving forward.
• Train as a character. Yes, she gets her own portions, too!
• Recurring theme of isolation. Emma Donoghue’s books often have a feeling of being apart from the rest of the world, whether that’s three people on a tiny island or a boarding school for girls kept largely away from society.
• The language! There are so many perfectly constructed sentences throughout this book. I wrote down several quotes.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Too many characters. While I love how the 15 or so characters make up a collage of 1895 France… it’s hard to keep track of them all or care very much about anyone in particular. I did have my favorites (Maurice! Blonska!), but some of the characters could have been cut out.
• After all that suspense… the ending was surprising.

Final Thoughts

The Paris Express is a great snapshot of life in France in 1895, weaving in a variety of themes, historical thoughts, and politics of the time. It’s suspenseful, though what it’s leading up to may not be what you expected. This book could be polarizing due to its construction and numerous characters, but I enjoyed it for what it is.

Special thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Paris Express here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fiction; Suspense
Setting	France
Number of Pages	288
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 18, 2025
Publisher	Simon & Schuster

Official Summary

Emma Donoghue, the “soul-stirring” (Oprah Daily) nationally bestselling author of Room, returns with a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.

Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.

From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy” (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.