Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of The Paris Express.

As I hugely Emma Donoghue fan, I was super excited to receive this ARC. I enjoyed it throughly, however I did struggle to keep the characters straight in my head.

Highly recommend

The biggest thing about this book is the sheer number of voices. It does not necessarily impact the narrative in a negative way but veers close to that possibility. I am also a little surprised the author actually chose to embellish the lives and possible inclinations of actual people that she found when looking into records. I was a little uncomfortable with that idea once I got to that point.

Baking up to the actual plot, this is the story of a real incident that occurred with the Paris express in 1895. Using the names of real people of the time, some who were confirmed to be on the train while others were just contemporaries, the author built a very layered narrative. It provides, or tries to provide an in-depth image of the lives and situations of the time. I think it serves well as a discussion for all those mentioned topics.

Finally, I did come away with the feeling of a little too much information, way more than I expected going into a historical fiction book. It is an ambitious project and certain people will definitely appreciate it for what it is.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

After scanning the synopsis I had to read this book based on a true story. It's set in 1895 and about a disaster on board the Granville to Paris Express. But sadly I just could not fully get into it, the characters didn't feel strong enough and though an exciting idea for a story it did not become a memorable read for me.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was an interesting novel written by Emma Donoghue. I have previously enjoyed her writing but this one didn’t hit the mark for me unfortunately.

It’s based on a true story of the 1895 train from Granville-Paris which crashed through the station at Montparnasse.

It is a fictionalised account of the people who were on the train, some who probably were, some who probably weren’t and one at the end of the tale who is known to have been involved.

While it wasn’t written badly, it just wasn’t enough - there was a large cast of characters, some who seemed just thrown in to fill a space and some who did have some backstory developed but it just didn’t to me feel that it had a huge amount of plot going on.

The Paris Express, the latest novel by Emma Donoghue of Room fame, is a gripping thriller and a fascinating exploration of 'fin de siècle' French society.

The structure of the book follows the train's route down the country, with the chapters demarcating the train's stops en route to Paris. We quickly learn that this particular steamer is heading for disaster. Someone among the passengers is bent on an act of terrorism which will shock France out of its bourgeois stupor. Can they be foiled before it is too late?

Told from the perspectives of an assortment of her passengers, the book presents a fictionalised version of the story of Engine 721's fateful voyage from Granville in Normandy to the French capital one autumn day in 1896. Like her previous work, Learned by Heart, about noted 19th century diarist Anne Lister's time at boarding school, Donoghue takes the facts that are known about this real historical event (the timeline of the journey and many of the real people known to have travelled on the express that day), and fills in the blanks with pin-point accurate depictions of contemporary politics, fashion and social mores, as well as imagined back stories for each character and the interactions that may have transpired between them.

After reading the afore-mentioned Learned by Heart, I should have known better, but I was still surprised to discover via the concluding author's note, that the novel was based on real events and real people. Once again, Donoghue's talent for world-building evokes a very specific moment in time and breathes life into long-dead people and an era which seems far removed from our present time.

Donoghue adeptly captures the excitement and feeling of possibility which the advent of express trains like this one represented to the people of France, but also uses this gleaming symbol of progress to point out the dark side of modernisation, as well as the ways in which conservative values continued to bind French society. The ruthless efficiency which an industrialising France relied upon often came at the expense of the working classes and the rural poor; indeed, we even see how strict productivity and performance targets which would represent the railway favourably could cause dangerous risks to be taken by the crew. (Guillaume, Victor, Léon and Jean are based on the real crew that day, and the account of their epic shift serves to emphasise the unrealistic expectations placed on guards and 'rollers' (drivers and stokers) in order to keep the trains running on time.

As much as France was modernising in certain ways - such as technology and many people's rejection of organised religion, in others it remained staunchly conservative. Unwed mothers were shunned, homosexuality was taboo and gender roles were rigid - women were expected to be ladylike, demure and submissive, leaving men to succeed in the public sphere and world of work while they kept house and raised the children.

Among the passengers who really travelled on the express that day (or who might have done, considering their residence in Paris in 1896) are an assortment of intriguing women, many of whom pushed hard against the rigid social barriers which governed women's lives at the time: Mado, an angry young woman on a mysterious mission; Blonska, an elderly, crippled Russian emigrée returning from taking the sea air; Marcelle, a medical student daughter of Cuban immigrant parents who have climbed the social ladder; Alice, an ambitious, foreward-thinking secretary. I appreciated Donoghue taking the opportunity to elevate these women's stories and shine a light on the other manifestations of 'progress' aside from the railways. As in Learned by Heart, Donoghue depicts same-sex relationships with sensitivity and heart, as well as showing the various guises they might have assumed in an unfriendly society. The range of characters allows us to experience the journey from a variety of perspectives: first, second and third class passengers; regular travellers and first-timers; men and women; urban and rural; old and young.

The plot thunders along at pace, the tension building as we learn more about the dangers the train faces and become invested in the fates of the passengers. I will say that only a handful of the characters felt fully realised enough for me to care about them as individuals, but even those who didn't particularly interest me still added depth and detail to the historical context in an engaging way, the characters representing as they do a microcosm of their society.

Readers who only know Donoghue from Room may struggle with The Paris Express; it is a very different type of novel and perhaps not as universally accessible. However, if you are interested in this period in history, this absorbing little tale could be right up your street.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris Express just didn’t do it for me. The setup was cool—a tense train ride to Paris—but the story dragged and the characters felt kind of flat. There were a few good moments, but overall it just didn’t grab me. A bit of a letdown.

I love trains and loved this story that made me travel in time and space. A page turner that kept me hooked and an excellent storytelling I loved
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I have to say that this book exceeded all my expectations. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A story created of the actual derailment of the Paris Express at Montparnasse train station in 1895. The author has cleverly used known facts and details of the events and the people involved to paint a picture of what it could have been like to have been on that train. She has also given colour and context to what France was like then with the developing technologies, politics and attitudes. Using the passengers in the different classes of travel, she also is able to show us what people's lives were like in most parts of society. It's a little slow to follow all the different stories in the beginning, however worth persisting because it speeds up, just like the train, the more you get into it and ties together well for the dramatic ending.

I started this ARC in (digital) print but wasn‘t drawn in so switched to audio. The audio was much better, although there were too many characters so it was difficult to get to know / care about some of them.

The storyline had me gripped though, and I was desperate to find out the ending.

However, I‘m also slightly disappointed as I expected more (something quirky, unusual or clever) from this author and this felt like a fairly standard HF.

3.5 stars

Wonderful Emma does it again! Never disappoints and always with such relatable and genuine characters! I loved the pace and the thrills thanks for sharing!!

The Parisian setting the evocative era of dramatic change and the turmoil of the clashing classes… amazing

There's a really famous photo of a train accident at Paris Montparnasse station in 1895 - in it, the steam engine of the train has overshot the end of the line and is hanging out of the station through the giant glass windows. It's an arresting image and one that Emma Donoghue has taken as the inspiration for her new book. Who was on that train, speeding unknowingly towards the derailment?

The book is very fragmented, skipping between lots of characters on the train across all the classes, including the railway staff. At first, I found this quite hard to follow, especially remembering who everyone was and how they all fitted together. However, after a while, it all came together and I started to find the characters engaging. It's a true slice of late 19th century French life, from the train guards and stokers to high-ranking political figures, from the wealthy invalid in her own carriage to the young terrorist, from the schoolboy to the pregnant woman nearing her due date, the coffee seller to the woman aspiring to be a doctor. As is Donoghue's tendency, there is a feminist slant to some of the stories - and it is the women who are often the strongest or the most visionary (something I like about her writing).

As well as basing the events on a real incident, Donoghue's cast includes real people too - and this is all explained in the author's note at the end. Fans of historical fiction will find a lot to enjoy here - the historical detail is pin-sharp and vivid, from the heat and steam of the engine footplate to the claustrophobic quiet of the private carriage for the sick woman.

It's an immersive book if you can allow yourself to go with the narrative, switching between people and carriages frequently. I definitely enjoyed learning about the people, the time period and the incident itself and would recommend it to anyone who likes thought-provoking and intense reads. There's certainly a lot of tension as the train hurtles towards its final destination with the passengers unaware of what's coming.

This story takes place on board the Granville - Paris express train in the 1890s. Based on a true story and featuring some real characters, the book takes us through the trains journey and its tragic end.
There is a plethora of characters here and in its different class divisions gives us an insight into society at that time and maybe indeed to this day.
It is well written and characters well developed for the most part, however I found there was just too many people and carriages and with an emphasis on the negative aspects of their characters I found myself wishing the train would just crash and be done with it.

Worth a read but not this author’s best work.

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk for this DRC in exchange for this honest review.

The Paris Express is based on the true incident of the 1895 Paris rail derailment. The novel follows a cast of characters as they make their fateful journey to Paris not knowing the tragedy that awaits them.

This was a really interesting novel with the mix of fact and fiction. I really enjoyed learning about the cast of characters before the horror of the derailment. I hadn't heard a about this incident before so it was fascinating to learn more about this incident.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled with this book. Very slow pace and lots of different characters. Yes, the build up to the climax was hood but , I did find it a little too slow. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This title is a very interesting take on a railway disaster that occurred in Paris in the 1890s. The author inserts characters into the story in a way that builds a very complete picture of the scene, and manages to portray a lot despite the relative confinements of a railway carriage.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue offers an evocative setting and rich historical detail, but for me faltered in narrative cohesion and emotional depth, making it a struggle to keep track of the many characters. Donogue’s prose is characteristically elegant, and I like that she tethered the narrative to actual people and events. However, the plot meanders, occasionally losing momentum, and key character motivations felt underdeveloped. While the novel attempts to grapple with themes of loyalty, identity, and survival, it doesn’t quite achieve the emotional resonance I’ve come to expect from Donoghue. Still, fans of historical fiction may find value in its vivid setting and glimpses of resilience amidst chaos, even if the story lacks lasting impact.

This story is a fictional account of a real event that centres around a train journey from Granville to Paris in 1895. Some of the characters were actually on that journey, whilst others are purely fictional. Many characters are brought to life in this excellent novel - including the train crew, an artist, politicians, a young boy travelling alone but most importantly a young women who carries a bomb on to the train. As the train goes on its journey the characters are developed and the story moves along at a good pace.
An enjoyable novel that had me hooked.

Set aboard the Granville - Paris express train on the poignant day of October 22, 1895, this heartfelt story unfolds within the elegant confines of a train journeying toward Paris. Among the passengers are a diverse array of characters, each with their own hopes and dreams: a tight-knit crew bonded by shared experiences, dignified politicians accompanied by their stylish partners, prosperous industrialists reveling in their successes, and artists searching for inspiration as the train hums along its route. While the atmosphere is lively and vibrant, a young woman sits quietly among the crowd, carrying a heavy secret. She is a troubled soul with a dangerous mission, seeking to create chaos in the lives of those blissfully aboard.

As the story gracefully unfolds in the moments leading up to the tragic disaster, it poignantly captures the heartaches and fears surrounding the train’s eventual derailment. Readers are introduced to various social classes, each enjoying their own forms of comfort and happiness, yet completely unaware of the looming peril. The risks associated with train travel during this era are brought to life, adding a palpable tension to the serene setting.

Drawing inspiration from a true event, the author meticulously weaves in mostly real-life characters, some of whom genuinely journeyed on that ill-fated train, while others are compassionate creations that enhance the narrative’s richness. As I delved into the lives of these individuals, I found myself deeply moved by their stories, supported by the author’s thoughtful notes that illuminated their historical relevance and brought their struggles to light.

This takes place on board the Granville - Paris express train on 22nd October 1895. On board are, amongst others, the crew who have built a life together riding the tracks, several politicians and their partners, industrialists, artists, children, a young woman with a secret, and an anarchist who means to cause harm to the train and those on board. The book counts down to the tragic end of their journey and the train's derailment, along with the causes of the tragedy. It also tells some of the story of those on board, in their separate social, and train, classes travelling to Paris and unaware of the danger that they're in, and the perils of train travel at that time.

This book was based on a real event, with mostly real-life characters. Some of them really were on that train, and others could conceivably have been on that journey. I really enjoyed finding out about this event and some of the people, as I looked them up as I read along, as well as from the author's note which provides additional information about them.

I did find the book slow to start with, along with a lot of characters in different compartments to try and keep track of. I think the book would've benefitted from a map of the compartments on the train, and who was in them. However this was definitely a story-driven book, and it picked up pace as the book and the journey progressed, and I found myself enjoying it and completely hooked by the end. I would recommend this to those who enjoy historical fiction, or books set on trains.