book cover of The Paris Express
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The Paris Express

(2025)
A novel by

 
 
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.


Genre: Historical

Praise for this book

"In exploring a little-remembered event in history, Emma Donoghue manages to hold a mirror up to a whole society, from its train porters to its members of parliament, and show that however much one tries to wrench life to conform to one's will, everyone is vulnerable to its shocks. What an absorbing, panoramic, meticulously researched, lovingly peopled gem. A huge privilege to get an early glimpse!" - Esi Edugyan

"Donoghue's talents are at such glorious heights in this novel." - Heather O'Neill

"Captivating! Emma Donoghue writes in rich, luxuriant detail, yet the story moves at an exhilarating clip. THE PARIS EXPRESS brings big questions about human interconnectedness into an edge-of-your-seat historical thriller that I couldn't put down." - Shelby Van Pelt

"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." - Alice Winn


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