1.5 rounded up

This review and rating pain me to write, as I’ve loved the three other Donoghue books I’ve read deeply (Room, The Wonder, and The Pull of the Stars.) I rated those past books 4-5⭐️s and they live rent free in my brain. I was so excited for this advanced read from NetGalley but unfortunately, it was such a slog for me.

Based on the real life photographed train crash in 1865, Donoghue casts a wide net of characters that she places on the journey from Granville to Paris. Some were historically real humans who were not on this train, others were. All different ethnicities, classes, and genders experiencing this horrific crash together.

There were too many characters for me to keep track of or even care about. Donoghue did a ton of historical research and the way she highlights racism, classism, and antisemitism is effective. But I think this novel was too ambitious in scope. I kept thinking how the structure of another historical fiction novel about a tragedy that I read last year was way more impactful for me (The House is On Fire by Rachel Beanland.) The blurbs of this book call it “thrilling” and “propulsive”, but I completely disagree sadly. I found this glacially paced! I found the Author’s Note at the end of the book documenting who was real vs fictional more fascinating than the novel itself. 😬

✨Content Warnings: Pregnancy, Sexual Content, Death, Medical Content, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Homophobia, Racism, Child Death, Antisemitism, Suicidal Thoughts

✨Themes: Social Inequality, Politics, Fate

✨You May Like This If You Enjoyed:
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This historical fiction was a miss for me. I enjoyed the tension of the story, but the characters did not captivate me at all. I felt the structure was a good idea, but the characters did not have the amount of depth, nor did I care about any of them in the end. It was just an okay read for me.

Very interesting book. I like how they talked about different classes and how the train was going through to Paris. And they talked about different stops in different times and it was interesting because it gave a picture. How the train was gonna ride in Paris. Everybody had a story to tell on this train. It was a very interesting book. Because it showed you how people reacted to different things in this book. Great book

What a fascinating group of characters! So many stories and interesting backgrounds. Enjoyed the characterizations, and discovering the final resolution.

Let me start by saying that I loved the premise of the book, and found it started out well. Unfortunately, pretty immediately, The Paris Express became unexciting and monotonous. The descriptions of what it was like on the train, during the period, were very interesting but became too lengthy and too numerous. I loved the explanation of the segregation process of the different cars and how they were filled with passengers. For example, "Third class is always placed at the front of the train as so as to catch the brunt of the coal dust and of course so that in the event of a head-on collision, those in the cheap seats will do their duty of getting crushed before their betters." Hearing about how VIP's actually waited at the side of the tracks for their personalized, glamorous, railroad cars to be attached (to separate themselves from the lower classes) was a wild discovery. How privileged those individuals were to expect the staff to hook their private car to the middle of the train with blatant disregard to the train's timetable. The onboard environment really had its own societal structure, encompassed by its own class hierarchy. The conversations between the passengers were also an inside look into societal norms of the time. The reader learned how immigrants were viewed, how education and beauty were esteemed, and how unwed mothers and unmarried women were looked down upon. I loved the "human coffee pot" and how that description created a beautifully crafted picture in my mind of how patrons drank from the coffee Pedlar's machine during the ride. Unfortunately, although there were glimmers of positivity, my overwhelming feelings were not so favorable.

The story became too crowded with simultaneous timelines from too many different characters. I don't enjoy feeling like I must take notes to keep characters and sub-story lines straight in my head. It became too much work. Usually, I really enjoy a historical fiction novel, especially when based on true events, but this one missed the mark for me.

Thank you, Net Galley and Summit Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a locked room setting like a train for a book like this, and Donoghue successfully pulls it off. The characters were weird and memorable, but you do need to care a bit about trains!

This character study and suspense-filled slice of life was a page-turner of an historical novel.

I found that I needed to be alert to a very large cast of characters….perhaps a few more than I usually juggle in one novel. But, this was an interesting snapshot in time….the entire book takes place on one day’s train journey. The writing was almost cinematic, and the story would make a great film.

This historical fiction novel is based on an actual train disaster that happened in 1895 at a Paris rail station. The event is infamous in that there was only one casualty and for the incredible pictures captured by a lucky photographer who happened to be onsite. The photos depict the engine of the train hanging out of an upper level of the station after derailing and crashing through the station.
While I enjoy historical fiction based on events that I know little about (I have never heard of this event), I found this book to be mostly dry and boring. I do appreciate all the research done by the author and this is described in her author’s notes at the end. Most of the characters were actual people on the train and she embellished their stories but I thought that there were just too many characters and none of them could be developed well. The possibility of a bomb onboard, even though there was never evidence of this, made the story a little more interesting but overall, the book just jumped around too much to be engaging. The writing style was not for me.

Excellent descriptions of life back then. The pacing seems to be off; it took me a while to read. Thsnks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

The Paris Express
By Emma Donoghue

I am a fan of Donoghue's books. I like her writing style and the subjects she writes about. This book, based on a true story about a train wreck in Montparnasse, France on October 22, 1895, while interesting, is not one of her best.

The author spends a large portion of the book introducing a large cast of characters who have little in common other than being on this train. We meet everyone from the driver to the various train employees; a Russian émigré; a young girl planning on blowing up the train; a woman who is due to give birth imminently, hoping to arrive in Paris before the birth; a 7 year old boy traveling alone who falls asleep and misses his stop; various upper class travelers and deputies traveling to Paris to rejoin the government; and others too many to keep straight.

Additionally there are a number of plot lines which add to the sense of confusion and seem unnecessary. For example a male-male encounter in the bathroom at a stopover seems superfluous to the story.

Thus I would say that I was somewhat disappointed with this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for his ARC.

"The Paris Express" races along on finely built tracks, but the narrative train is overstuffed and by the time it derails you may find yourself wondering if anyone ever punched your ticket. I'm a huge fan of Emma Donoghue's writing, and she has a great approach to historical fiction in general. This book, however, is trying to do too many things at once. It focuses on a well-known 1895 train derailment at Montparnasse and visits with numerous passengers as the express train barrels toward its destination. Unfortunately, there are so very many narratives happening that you never feel fully invested in any of them.

A sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.

Donoghue is one of my favorite writers and she doesn't disappoint..

Based on an historical disaster in 1895 that went down in history, The Paris Express is a captivating read and the interconnected cast of characters perfectly captured with great detail. Well done.

Take a deep dive into train travel during the late 1800s, the Montparnasse train derailment, and French anacrchists with Emma Donoghue's newest historical fiction. Great characters from all walks of life but the sheer number of characters can sometimes get confusing - a full list and desription of each character at the front of the book could be helpful.

I greatly enjoyed this Historical Fiction story. The cast of characters was diverse and interesting, and I liked how the tension mounted as the story went on. This was made even greater by the fact that the train crash was a real event and I happened across a photo online before I got to the end of the story (where it was printed as well).

My only disappointment is that I wish we would've gotten a look into all the character's lives a few month after the crash. I was vested in their stories and wanted to see how they turned out. Did they remain connected? Or did they go their separate ways and move on with their lives?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this fascinating and entertaining story.

The premise of this book was very intriguing to me. I really enjoy historical fiction novels and I like to read about history that I’m not familiar with. I was unfamiliar with the train derailment in this book. I was really wanting more action, however the story did keep me engaged.

This historical fiction novel is 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. It is at once a picture of people on one seemingly normal day of life, in Paris and a drawn-out suspense at what will happen to them in an instant. What could happen in an instant?

The author has written a variety of themes, historical thoughts, and politics of the time n France. It’s about an actual train disaster that happen in Paris in1895. It is an amazing novel about the railway “

I received an advance ebook copy of The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue from netgalley.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. There was too much information right from the start. I couldn't get into it.

This was an interesting character study of people in the late 1800s aboard a train but not much happens. For the most part this book follows the train passengers and all they are facing the train accident didn’t happen until the last 10 percent so it’s mostly just following people and what they are facing. It was fine but pretty slow and too many characters to really click with any of them. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

t's always interesting to me to have an author write a fiction novel based on an actual event. This story was different to me. I was given a copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my unsolicited opinion about the book.
I can't imagine being on a train with people from various regions and heading toward something completely unexpected. Although, a couple passengers have ideas of what awaits everyone. I will say that I have decided that Emma Donoghue is an excellent writer. She has brought in the thoughts and actions of many characters on this journey from the engineer to the passengers. The time period lends an interesting feel to the story. I honestly felt anxiety as I read late into the night, when would it happen, who would survive?
It is a wild train ride. The photo from the actual event is captivating.


Possible Triggers: Train crash, sexual encounter, pregnancy/birth