The Paris Express
by Emma Donoghue
Pub Date: Mar 18, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I enjoy historical fiction plus I knew about this train wreck in Paris in 1895.

Since I knew about the event I was able to concentrate on the characters traveling. Most of the characters had a story about why they were traveling on this particular train. Ms. Donoghue’s descriptions were quite interesting and I wondered how they would all interact on this 7-8 hour journey.

First, second and third class passengers traveled in separate compartments so there was no interaction amongst them. This was fairly typical of this time period. Even the train crew was interesting, as well as the workings of the train itself.

A plus to me was the fabulous Author’s Note that told of some of the real people who were on the train in 1895.

The Paris Express is about the "infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station". I was interested to read about the disaster because I was unfamiliar with what happened. Donoghue gives such care to the details of the passengers on the train. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Thank you NetGalley, S & S/Summit Books and Emma Donoghue for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of The Paris Express.
This is a beautifully written story about a little known 1895 train disaster at the Paris Montparnasse Station. The setting is descriptive with various classes of passengers as well as various classes of train cars. There is a fascinating cast of characters which I found to be a major flaw in the story. There were too many people involved, with names I couldn’t keep straight and I found myself struggling to pay attention. I was not immersed in the story, experienced too much telling rather than showing and a lack of emotion in the characters’ lives. There were some twists and turns in the plot but the ending was rather anti-climatic. I wanted to be more invested but the characters didn’t show me enough.

A fascinating account of the 1885 train accident at Montparaness station in Paris gives a taste of the cross section of the train’s passengers. Full of suspense and a true sense of 1890’s history seen through the eyes of a young female anarchist, a black American painter and a cast of many others representing the various classes of the time. Donoghue’s extensive research brings the era and the characters to life.

The people who board the train in Granville, a resort town on France’s Norman coast, have no idea that they will be part of one of the most spectacular train accidents in history. Readers who’ve never heard of the Montparnasse derailment have probably seen photos like the one I included below and will have an idea of where this train is headed. Emma Donoghue’s new novel, The Paris Express, unfolds in the hours between the train’s departure in Granville and its stunning arrival in Paris on October 22, 1895.

Donoghue dips in and out of the various classes aboard the train, giving us glimpses into the lives of a dozen or so characters. The first-class compartments offer the best seats and are furthest from the engine’s smoke and noise. In second class, we find characters who hover around the middle class. They can afford a bit of comfort but are reluctant to splurge. The third-class carriages are the liveliest, full of people watching every franc and sou. Along the track to Paris we meet politicians, a coffee seller, missionaries, a young boy traveling alone for the very first time, a writer, artists, and a very angry anarchist, among others. In her note at the end of the book, Donoghue writes that not all of the people on her version of the Paris Express—like John Millington Synge and Alice Guy-Blaché—were actually on this particular train, though they were in France at the time.

The carriage classes immediately had me thinking about how money and privilege divide us. Money might allow us to step up the social ladder, though characters like the fretful African American artist, Henry Tanner, in second class serve as a reminder that there are other prejudices that make life harder than it needs to be. Mado Pelletier’s story makes the divisions between class, gender, race, and privilege even more clear. This daughter of a poor Parisian family has grown into a very angry woman. The injustices she has been forced to live with her entire life have led her to develop an admiration for bomb- and gun-wielding anarchists. From her perspective, they are the only ones willing to fight back against a government that doesn’t care for the plight of the poor, the unemployed, or the sick. In contrast to Mado’s simmering anger is a peculiar Russian woman, Blonska, who lives a purposefully austere life so that she can give every spare coin to folk who are worse off than she is.

Donoghue doesn’t forget about the men working on the train, who are paid to cater to all of the people in third, second, and first class. While the passengers talk and eat and while away the miles to Paris, the porters, driver, and stoker are all trying to get everyone to Paris on time, using as little fuel as possible, while also accommodating the whims of people who pay for unscheduled stops or simply lose track of time and threaten the train’s time table.

It all makes for an interesting slice-of-life story, with the added tension of the impending derailment and whatever Mado the would-be anarchist might be plotting. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this fast read.

I got this book from Netgalley to read and give an honest review. I love Donoghue's other books that I've read but this one seemed to slough on for me.

There were many characters and each had their own descriptions but I can't say that I liked any of them very much and it was a lot to keep track of, when going back to a certain rail car, I found I had forgotten who we were talking about.

The last quarter of the book got interesting and moved along at a quicker pace but then seemed to drop the ball for me.

As it was based on a true occurrence in 1859, I did enjoy reading about the real characters and what happened to them afterwards.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and give a review.

Emma Donoghue invites her readers to board a train bound for Paris, seating us among both travelers and employees. Historically based, this train is headed for disaster. The engineer feels pressed to make up time to earn a decent bonus and a young female malcontent is clutching her homemade bomb waiting for an opportune moment to go down in history. Along with these two, we meet people from each class: wealthy businessmen, government leaders., merchants, artists, journalists, a pregnant woman, students, children and the engine itself. As the final stop nears, the tension builds and we are caught up in the terror. A simple train trip becomes a lesson in life.

I quite enjoyed this and when a book is entertaining and keeps my interest I will add an extra star to the rating.
Based on a true story of the Paris Express train crash in 1895, this read was fascinating for the real life people that were actually on the train though most of the storyline of the riders is fictionalized it still had me imagining their lives. From the train operators and crew, the wealthy upper classes to a young anarchist wanting to leave her impactful mark on the world in a horrific way, this was atmospheric and the writer captured the sense of the timeline and I felt like I was aboard this train in 1895 riding along catching a glimpse into the lives of the riders and the conversations while they feasted on French cheese and wine from food hampers they brought along for lunch. The storyline was a build up of anticipation and suspense as the train sped past the countryside to it's fateful destination.
Big thank you to author Emma Donoghue and NetGalley for offering me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review, my opinions on this read are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! It starts off on a train and we meet many travelers and the people who run the train. I liked the switching back and forth of character's perspective! I thought it really added to the story. The plot was well thought out even if it didn't go where I thought it would! This book took me two days to read and once I got about two chapters in I could not put it down! I loved that it was based on an actually historical incident.

When I first starting reading this story I was worried that there were too many characters to invest in and to keep track of but by the time I finished the story it was not a problem.

Overall I really enjoyed this read!

This book has so many characters in it that it was hard to keep them straight and I felt like none rose to the top in terms of character development.
The story just never picked up steam for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

I am a big fan of Emma Donoghue and had high hopes for this book being a lover of historical fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. The cast of characters was so lengthy that it felt like no one got their due and it was so hard to keep track of everyone. And not to sound harsh, but the disaster was not that disastrous, if that makes sense? Felt very anti-climatic. It also sooooooo long to get to the actual derailment that the reader just ends up feeling lost.

Rounded up from 3.5 stars

"The Paris Express" reimagines the hours onboard the Granville-Paris Express before its derailment at Gare Monparnasse in 1895. There's a famous photo of the train that retains its power to shock well over a century later. I wish this novel had the same power.

Emma Donoghue introduces us to more than a dozen of the passengers and crew members. Several of the passengers are historic figures who could have been on the train, though there's no record of it. This literary equivalent of stunt casting wasn't too distracting, imo. The addition of an anarchist's plot was, however. I guess it was meant to ratchet up the tension, but for me it bogged down the proceedings. So did the details of the train's operations; it felt as if Donaghue wanted to make sure we knew how intensive her research was.

Overall this was a fast read but not a particularly memorable one—certainly nowhere near as memorable as the photograph.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Based on history, the hierarchy and tensions of French society in the late 1800s is presented by first/second and 3rd class cars in the Paris Express train. We meet fictionalized characters representative of each class of society, including one person intent on payback for perceived injustices. While a bit slow to start (establishing all these characters!), I enjoyed the novel as it gained steam.

In 1895, a train bound for Paris is also headed for disaster. Unfortunately this novel is on a similar track. The story showed promise but a huge cast of characters made connecting with the story impossible for me. I appreciated the history of the time and the social mores observed by rich and poor alike. Also, the follow-up at the end listing what happened to some of the real life passengers after the crash was interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Summit Books/Simon & Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the digital ARC of ”The Paris Express ” in exchange for my honest opinion. I went into this book knowing nothing about it, and it took a while for me to figure out what was going on. So many different characters were introduced that I had a really hard time keeping track of who was who, and it only gave us a little bit on each one before moving on. It would’ve been very helpful to have character names above each section that was about them to try to keep theirstories separate. Once you finally figure out the main part driving the plot, the story moves along a little faster, but again still a lot of confusion with all of the characters. 2.5 rounded up to three because while I didn’t want abandon the book, I was ready to move onto a new one by the end.

I was thrilled for a chance to read and review Emma Donoghue’s “The Paris Express.” Set in 1895, the story focuses on a derailment of a train headed from Granville to Paris and the people who were on those train. The reader meets a variety of characters sitting in different sections of the train, while giving the reader a slice of lesser known history.

While “The Paris Express” is based on true events, Donoghue includes a mixture of real and fictional characters. I thought the different passenger perspectives were intriguing, but at the same time, I felt that the reader did not have an opportunity to particularly see growth or development of any individual. I also felt overwhelmed with getting to know any one particular person, though Donoghue created a mosaic of intriguing persons with compelling stories.

Thanks to Net Galley for a chance to read and review this book.

After reading the description, I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, I found it dull. There were too many characters for me to become invested in any of them, and the plot moved too slowly. The best part of the book was reading about the operation of the train.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. Although this was not a favorite, I am still looking forward to Emma Donoghue's next book.

Donoghue always does characters so well...but this plot fell flat. I am not sure why this story I trigger her so much?
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Overall I found this book to be rather dull. Some of the character's stories were interesting, but mostly I just wanted to get through it to hear about the climax, which was then very anti-climatic.

Author Emma Donoghue grabbed my attention by simply naming her latest novel "The Paris Express". I love Paris and I love traveling by train to/from Paris and throughout France. I knew "The Paris Express" would be interesting but it was beyond that - it was filled with suspense right up to the very end. "The Paris Express" is historical fiction - but based on a true event with some of the real people involved in the 1895 event featured as characters. I had not read anything about the real train, or any of the people, involved in the 1895 event, so I had no idea what was going to happen and was simply interested in reading about the lives of the many passengers on the train as well as the lives and job responsibilities of the men working on the train. Reading about lives of men and women riding in 1st Class, 2nd Class, and 3rd Class painted a fascinating picture of life in Paris at that time in history. It also gave a remarkably detailed look at how early trains were operated. While I felt that I came away with additional historical knowledge from this book, when I was actually reading it I kept wondering "what is going to happen to this person - to that person - to all the people?" - and simply "What is going to HAPPEN?" - it was that suspenseful - almost nerve-wracking - right to the end. I recommend this book to anyone interested in that time period, trains, or suspense. Due to the nature of a couple of graphic scenes, I would not recommend this to anyone younger than college age. I received an ARC from the publishers and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.