The Paris Express

A zippy Agatha Christie-like thriller giving a taste of life in fin-de-siècle 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 Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express … If the steam engine is an astonishing feat of engineering, so is Donoghue’s 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 aren’t 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 couldn’t 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
You’ll find plenty of intimacy but few displays of party manners among the passengers Donoghue introduces in The Paris Express … As the train speeds toward the capital, vignettes in the various carriages provide a tension-filled panorama of fin-de-siècle French society – Alida Becker, The New York Times

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.

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