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| Photo by Studio Levy |
On 22 October 1895 the Granville-Paris Express train crashed through the station wall at the Gare Montparnasse, plummeting on to the street below. The train was running late so the driver was speeding, and the air brake failed. Miraculously all 131 passengers on board survived, but a woman on the street was killed when the building collapsed on her. An inquest after the crash found the driver and a guard at fault, issuing fines and suspended jail sentences. The crash was captured in famous photographs which showed the wreckage moments after the incident. This photograph inspired award winning author Emma Donoghue's historic novel
The Paris Express (2025).
The story begins in Granville as the crew readies the Engine 721 for departure and the passengers prepare to board. We are introduced to the various people about to take this fateful journey. The passengers are split into first, second and third class carriages giving insight into the social divisions. Among the passengers is Mado, an angry young revolutionary who wants to make her mark by committing an act to further her cause. There is an elderly Russian woman, an American painter, a secretary who wants to make films, an Irish playwright, a pregnant woman and many others. We also meet the guards and the drivers who toil to ensure the train runs on time. As the journey progresses we learn more about each of these characters through their interactions with one another.
At first I found this story quite slow and difficult to engage with. There were too many characters - about a dozen storylines - which were initially hard to keep track of. At one point I contemplated getting off this train. However, as the journey gained momentum I found myself drawn in and connecting with the story. While I knew the train would crash, it was a nail biting finish.
Donoghue's writing is beautifully evocative. She has structured the novel to resemble the train timetable and his filled the story with information from the period, showing her comprehensive research skills. In the afterword she provides information about the real passengers she has fictionalised and the other historic figures she has imagined on the journey. This made me appreciate Donoghue's work even more. While I cannot say I loved this book, I certainly admired the effort and found the second half of it quite gripping.
