The people who board the train in Granville, a resort town on France’s Norman coast, have no idea that they will be part of one of the most spectacular train accidents in history. Readers who’ve never heard of the Montparnasse derailment have probably seen photos like the one I included below and will have an idea of where this train is headed. Emma Donoghue’s new novel, The Paris Express, unfolds in the hours between the train’s departure in Granville and its stunning arrival in Paris on October 22, 1895.
Donoghue dips in and out of the various classes aboard the train, giving us glimpses into the lives of a dozen or so characters. The first-class compartments offer the best seats and are furthest from the engine’s smoke and noise. In second class, we find characters who hover around the middle class. They can afford a bit of comfort but are reluctant to splurge. The third-class carriages are the liveliest, full of people watching every franc and sou. Along the track to Paris we meet politicians, a coffee seller, missionaries, a young boy traveling alone for the very first time, a writer, artists, and a very angry anarchist, among others. In her note at the end of the book, Donoghue writes that not all of the people on her version of the Paris Express—like John Millington Synge and Alice Guy-Blaché—were actually on this particular train, though they were in France at the time.
The carriage classes immediately had me thinking about how money and privilege divide us. Money might allow us to step up the social ladder, though characters like the fretful African American artist, Henry Tanner, in second class serve as a reminder that there are other prejudices that make life harder than it needs to be. Mado Pelletier’s story makes the divisions between class, gender, race, and privilege even more clear. This daughter of a poor Parisian family has grown into a very angry woman. The injustices she has been forced to live with her entire life have led her to develop an admiration for bomb- and gun-wielding anarchists. From her perspective, they are the only ones willing to fight back against a government that doesn’t care for the plight of the poor, the unemployed, or the sick. In contrast to Mado’s simmering anger is a peculiar Russian woman, Blonska, who lives a purposefully austere life so that she can give every spare coin to folk who are worse off than she is.
Donoghue doesn’t forget about the men working on the train, who are paid to cater to all of the people in third, second, and first class. While the passengers talk and eat and while away the miles to Paris, the porters, driver, and stoker are all trying to get everyone to Paris on time, using as little fuel as possible, while also accommodating the whims of people who pay for unscheduled stops or simply lose track of time and threaten the train’s time table.
It all makes for an interesting slice-of-life story, with the added tension of the impending derailment and whatever Mado the would-be anarchist might be plotting. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this fast read.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.