Disaster in 1895: Emma Donoghue’s The Paris Express is the Thriller We Need in 2026
In 1895, a passenger train hurtled toward Paris Montparnasse, destined for one of the most famous historical rail disasters in history. In her latest novel, The Paris Express, celebrated author Emma Donoghue (the mind behind Room and The Wonder) takes us inside that doomed journey.
In the debut episode of The Irish Books Podcast, host Dr Chris Murray and historian Professor Dianne Hall sit down to discuss why this Victorian-era thriller feels so remarkably contemporary.
A Powder Keg on Wheels
The novel is set chapter-by-chapter, following the train’s stops from the coast of Granville to Paris. While the "impending doom" is teased from the very first page, Donoghue masterfully builds tension through a cast of characters that represent a world on the brink of change.
Central to the tension is Mado Pelletier, an androgynous anarchist carrying a deadly secret: a bomb in a tin lunch bucket. As she sits opposite a pregnant woman and a child, Mado wrestles with her radicalism, justifying her potential violence as an act for "the people" against a rigid social hierarchy.
"Mado reflects that all she can think of to make of herself is a flaming spear to throw at the world."
History Reimagined
While The Paris Express zips along like a thriller, it is grounded in meticulous historical research. Donoghue weaves real historical figures into the fictionalised journey, including:
John Millington Synge: The famed Irish playwright, captured here before his rise to greatness, on his way to a fateful meeting with W.B. Yeats.
Blonska: A Russian emigrant and librarian based on a real historical figure who becomes Mado’s moral foil.
Henry Ossawa Tanner: The real-life American painter who finds himself in second class because he feels like an outsider in first.
Why It Speaks to 2026
Professor Dianne Hall notes that Donoghue’s 1895 is more "multicultural and diverse" than we might expect, yet this diversity is historically grounded. The novel explores a "queer aesthetic" through the intimate relationships of the train staff and the non-conventional families formed by the passengers.
By highlighting the "relentless progress and collective anxiety" of the late 19th century, Donoghue holds a mirror to our own era of precarity and rapid technological shifts.
Listen to the Full Discussion
How does Donoghue manage to make a "spoiled" disaster ending feel like a shock? What does the "mind of the machine" tell us about Victorian society?
Listen to Episode 1: Emma Donoghue’s 'The Paris Express' wherever you get your podcasts
The Irish Books Podcast is proudly produced by East Coast Studio with support from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Monash University
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