The Paris Express

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the bestselling and “soul-stirring” (Oprah Daily) author of Room, a sweeping historical “nail-biter” (People) of a novel about the infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train's crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more. From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy” (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in 18th-century literature before following her partner to London, Ontario. She is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (Learned by Heart, Haven, The Pull of the Stars, The Wonder, Frog Music, Slammerkin) to the contemporary (Akin, Landing). Her most recent novel, The Paris Express, was a finalist for the 2025 Giller Prize. Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of the Year and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes. Donoghue also wrote the screenplays for Room and The Wonder and adapted Room and The Pull of the Stars for the stage. 2026 saw the premiere of her first musical, The Wind Coming Over the Sea. Her most recent film (adapted with Philippa Lowthorpe from Helen Macdonald's memoir) is H Is for Hawk.