Within those walls, Donoghue created an expansive world by turns joyous and disturbing ... Riveting ... We do get textured glimpses into the characters’ broader lives via multiple points of view ... Meticulous research has gone into the writing of this thriller ... If the steam engine is an astonishing feat of engineering, so is Donoghue’s propulsive and thought-provoking 16th novel.
Offers readers the opportunity to recognize something kindred in its characters’ passions and dilemmas ... As The Paris Express flits, hummingbird-like, among the various passengers and their concerns, it captures a society in miniature ... Steams across fin-de-siècle France with unstoppable momentum.
While the author has created interesting and unique characters, the reader might find the individuals difficult to recall until midway into the book when the repetition of their names and situations begins to stick in memory. Until then, the plot is somewhat slowed by the constant appearance of numerous people inhabiting the various carriages ... Donoghue is a fine writer and has done an extensive amount of research about the period ... Details about the various stations and the landscape are also impressive ... Readers will become ensnared by the quickening plot, wondering what will happen to the train and its passengers. A surprise awaits.
In less skilled hands, all these characters might become a roster of types, or simply meld, but Donoghue is too deft and intelligent to let us lose our way ... The form offers frustratingly limited scope for character complexity or nuance. Instead, there is a lively Agatha Christie feel.
Thrilling, thought-provoking ... Each and every beautifully written word counts in The Paris Express, as Donoghue wonderfully illuminates the fleeting qualities of both life and art.
