The Paris Express

(Hardback)

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Description

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Room and The Pull of The Stars, Emma Donoghue takes readers on a thrilling ride through a simmering turn-of-the-century Paris on the edge of a dazzling future.

'Ratchets up the pace until it's hurtling along as fast as the train itself' Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam
'Riveting' The Washington Post
'All about speed . . . this novel is a masterclass' The Independent

A woman determined to make her mark. A journey that will change everything.

Paris, 1895. Glamour hides a city on the brink. One morning, a young woman boards the Granville express with a deadly plan.

On the journey lives intertwine in explosive ways. There are the railway crew who have everything to lose, a little boy travelling alone for the first time, an elderly statesman with his fragile wife and a lonely artist far from home.

The train speeds towards the City of Light and into a future that will change everything . . .

'An edge-of-your-seat historical thriller that I couldn't put down' Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

Reviews

A zippy Agatha Christie-like thriller giving a taste of life in fin-de-sicle France * The Guardian *
A pacy read of secrets and lies * The i Paper *
The Paris Express is all about speed, and its heady corollary, escape. Good writing is also about momentum, and another corollary, the suspension of disbelief. This novel is a masterclass in both: an engrossing narrative, married to its intrinsic specificity, the joy of details * The Independent *
A riveting mix of social commentary and mystery . . . has much in common with Agatha Christies Murder on the Orient Express . . . If the steam engine is an astonishing feat of engineering, so is Donoghues propulsive and thought-provoking 16th novel * The Washington Post *
Donoghue deftly combines thriller and mystery elements with her trademark historical fiction . . . To say more about it would be to spoil the luxurious enjoyment of sinking into the multifaceted narrative that [she] creates * The Sunday Times (Ireland) *
A nail-biter and you'll learn some history, too * People *
Donoghue's historical fiction holds a special place in my heart . . . [she] is not a timid custodian of the past but an excavator, digging beneath bromides to unearth the defiant truth -- Naoise Dolan, The Irish Times
Clever, ambitious, and richly researched. A slice of 1890s Paris that makes us see that our modern problems arent so modern after all! The Paris Express is a smartly structured novel that ratchets up the pace until it's hurtling along as fast as the doomed train itself -- Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam
Captivating! Emma Donoghue writes in rich, luxuriant detail, yet the story moves at a exhilarating clip. An edge-of-your-seat historical thriller that I couldnt put down -- Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures
Wonderful. In exploring a little-remembered event in history, she manages to hold a mirror up to a whole society. An absorbing, panoramic, meticulously researched, lovingly peopled gem -- Esi Edugyan, author of Washington Black
Donoghue's talents are at such glorious heights in this novel -- Heather O'Neill, author of The Capital of Dreams

Author Bio

Born in Dublin in 1969, and now living in Canada, Emma Donoghue writes fiction (novels and short stories, contemporary and historical, most recently Learned by Heart), as well as drama for screen and stage. Her novel Room was shortlisted for the Booker, Commonwealth and Orange Prizes, selling nearly three million copies in forty languages. Donoghue was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film adaptation of Room starring Brie Larson. She also co-wrote the screenplay for the film of her novel The Wonder, starring Florence Pugh, and is now adapting The Pull of the Stars for the screen. For more information, visit www.emmadonoghue.com.