This novel focuses on the 1895 Paris Express train through the countryside. In the train, an eclectic and varied set of characters met for a brief day. Among them, a revolutionary with a bomb. As the train hurls across the countryside the author introduces us to the passengers, bringing them to life. The entire time, the reader knows a crash is imminent.

This book was very well written. Although only brief snippets of the character lives were provided, it was enough to portray an intimate snapship of their lives. Their interactions were fun to watch, as they spanned all classes of people. The sense of doom overlaid the book, creating suspense. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for my copy of THE PARIS EXPRESS. This one publishes March 18.

This book really made me angry. It was boring and such a slog. The cast of characters were so vast it made it impossible to connect with any of them. Then you learn how a train works... This just wasn't for me at all.

Although this book is based on a true story, I wasn’t a huge fan of it. For a lot of the book, it seemed very repetitive and slow. Also, there were so many people we were following that it was very hard to keep up with who was who. Overall, it was fine, but it could’ve been better.

Emma Donoghue has clearly done extensive research for The Paris Express. It’s based on a real train accident in France in 1895. It’s a snapshot based on what could have occurred on the actual day of the train’s journey. At each stop we meet more characters, several based on real people. I would have preferred less characters, each with more depth and backstory. Still Donoghue is an excellent writer and it was easy to feel immersed in the working of trains and the class differences of the time period. With thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

2.5 out of 5. Sometimes an event does not a story make. There were just too many characters and just not enough to care for me. My love of Starlight Express was the only thing that kept me reading for highlighting the beauty of a rolling stock . I understood more from the book with the author note and it was fun that she took characters from the time not in the train and put them in the train, but again i cared for few of them. The only really fully interesting character was Alice Guy, the filmmaker. Sometimes boring is worse than bad.

If you love books filled with a variety of people placed together for a train ride then this is for you. The descriptions of this vast number of folks is wonderful. Unfortunately I am a plot driven person and would that lacking

In this interesting and unusual story, Emma Donoghue writes about the infamous 1875 train crash at the Montparnasse train station in Paris. She does this by fleshing out several passengers on the train - most of whom were real people and others amalgams of types of people who were likely to be there. At first, I thought Donoghue was using a common device of making us care for the people involved, so that we would be more invested in what happened. That is part of it, but there is much more. Donoghue takes the opportunity to give us a compelling picture of late 19th century France. We get to know the workings of a long-distance train of the time (third class passengers were seated just behind the engine car because that car got the worst of the noise and coal dust), the duties of the conductor and engineer, the occupations of the passengers, and interesting trivia of the time. One passenger muses on the possibility of making moving pictures "like a flip book," others talk about food, daily living, and relationships. The presentation of these characteristics without hyperbole means that we aren't always emotionally invested in the characters, but we learn a lot about trains and the time.

There is an iconic photo at the end of the book of the crash, and I'm glad I didn't notice it before finishing the book, or look up the event (as I often do when I want to check facts or learn more about something the characters are discussing). The photo is a spoiler of sorts: fair warning.

I very. much enjoyed this book, and thank Summit and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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.