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 in this historical novel based on an 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.
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.
