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