The Paris Express

Starred review from November 11, 2024
A French anarchist targets a passenger train in the taut latest from Donoghue (Learned by Heart), which is inspired by a true story. On Oct. 22, 1895, Mado Pelletier boards the express from Granville to Paris with a homemade bomb in tow. Born into poverty, she’s furious over the plight of the working class, which is made all the more plain to her by the arrangement of the train’s carriages: first-class passengers are placed at the center of the train to cushion the blow in the event of a crash. (“This train is a moving image of the unfairness of the long con of life,” she thinks.) Three members of Parliament are riding in first class, and Mado hopes that by assassinating them, she will send a message to the ruling class. But as the locomotive speeds toward Paris, Mado meets her fellow passengers and questions whether she can follow through with her plan. Through shifting points of view—including that of the train engine itself—Donoghue establishes an intricate web of human relationships as the narrative speeds toward an unexpected yet plausible finale. Along the way, she offers detailed commentary on the railway’s cynical exploitation of its workers, enriching the themes raised by Mado’s critique. Readers ought to jump on board. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary.

Starred review from February 1, 2025
On the morning of October 22, 1895, the Paris Express leaves the town of Granville in Normandy for its seven-hour, ten-minute trip to the capital. Unbeknownst to its many passengers, the train is hurtling toward a crashing halt. Donoghue (Learned by Heart, 2023) superbly portrays the lead-up to the Montparnasse derailment, a disaster memorialized in astounding photographs, as experienced by travelers of diverse nationalities and social classes. Among them are a mixed-race American painter aspiring to greater achievements, an Algerian coffee-seller, a young boy bravely journeying alone, a female physiology student who observes classic signs of disease in a teenage girl in her car, and married workmen who enjoy a unique partnership. Quietly, an anarchist on board weighs the right moment to strike. Always balancing safety with keeping on schedule, crewmen feel pressured to make up any lost time. The pacing ramps up further midway through, the atmosphere tense. Donoghue's particular forte lies in showing how confined circumstances shape interactions. Her characterization is a marvel as she dexterously illustrates people's outward appearances and innermost desires. In her hands, the novel's long-ago setting becomes an exciting place buzzing with fresh life and technological ideas on the cusp of a new century, even as horror strikes.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Donoghue's steadfast readership will be be requesting her retelling of this historic act of terrorism.

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