The Paris Express

 The Paris Express

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       March 24, 2025

 

Author  Emma Donoghue

Distributor:      Amazon
ISBN:                 978-1668082799
Publisher:         S&S/Summit Books
Release Date:   March 2025  

   Website:   https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Express-Novel-Emma-Donoghue/dp/1668082799

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On 22 October, 1894 there was a spectacular train derailment at Montparnasse Station in Paris. One person was killed, a newspaper seller, Marie Haguillard. The first reaction from witnesses and passengers alike was it was anarchist attack, something that even then was common.

In telling the story behind the stunning event, Emma Donoghue has used the people who were on the train, the employees of the Company of the West, the owners of the train and many others who have now been included in an c work of Historic fiction.

The Paris Express is a very clever re-telling of History, bringing what was surely an horrific event to life once again through the people who were on the train. The Engineer, Guillaume Pellerin, and his Stoker and long-time friend Victor Garnier, tell of being under pressure to keep the train on time despite setbacks and ever tightening schedules.

As the passengers on the train come to life, there is the little boy who loves to travel on trains taking his first journey by himself, an artist, an anarchist, a very pregnant woman, an artist’s muse, a Priest, a showgirl, three politicians, a leader of industry and an Aristocratic family, as well as host of colourful characters to be discovered as the Engine 721 speeds ever faster towards destiny and place in history.

A captivating aspect of this story is that on the train there is a microcosm of humanity, captured for all time in the pages of history, each one with their own stories, each one looking forward to a brighter, better future when the new century arrives.

Not a fast paced read, but one that looks at humanity carefully The Paris Express fits somewhere between a history lesson and a good read.

Fiction, General, Historical