On the morning of October 22, 1895, Engine 721 chugged out of Granville in Normandy with a full head of steam. If all went according to schedule --- subject to any number of ways it could be delayed --- the Paris Express would arrive in the nation’s capital by 4:00 that afternoon. And history shows that it did, except that almost nothing went according to plan, and it arrived in spectacularly disastrous fashion.

In the seven-and-a-half hours that the train speeds along the tracks, ROOM author Emma Donoghue richly imagines what happened between the passengers and the crew. The records tell us that Guillaume Pellerin drove the train with Victor Garnier as the stoker. They were good men who found themselves in impossible circumstances. The Company of the West held them to a tight schedule yet allowed for unscheduled interruptions, such as the one that day at Briouze, so they could attach Albert Christophle’s private invalid car carrying his wife and himself.

"THE PARIS EXPRESS goes far beyond a chronicling of the events of October 22, 1895, when the train derailed at Montparnasse station. It brings to life the train itself, its crew, and its actual and possible passengers on that fateful day."

Making up the time it took for such an endeavor might have been what caused Pellerin and Garnier to take foolish risks. Their Christmas bonuses depended on the punctual delivery of the passengers to Montparnasse station. That extra money meant the difference between penury and at least a little holiday comfort.

Real people who may have been among the passengers include, in Third Class, a woman named Madeleine (Mado) Pelletier, an activist at the time. In our story, Mado was on the train that day because important people were certain to be on it as well. The new session of the National Assembly was set to meet the next day, which would mean 500 or so men gathering for it. This is an activist’s dream scenario.

Sharing the car with Mado was Russian émigré Elise Blonska, plus a very pregnant young woman who may have been fleeing an unwilling father so she could give her child away in Paris, another helpful woman who assisted with her female issues, and a soldier who wanted nothing to do with the birthing of a baby. Seven-year-old Maurice Marland nervously traveled alone, with instructions to detrain at Dreux, where his parents waited to greet him. His fellow travelers kindly aided in his journey to make him more comfortable.

Still, it went terribly wrong. There also might have been a young American in Second Class and a female scientist, other well-known Parisians in First Class. They were all about to become headlines. Their interactions during the hours on the steam train provide wonderful dimension for readers.

Meanwhile, as the Paris Express draws ever nearer to Paris, Engine 721 rides the rails blithely, not revealing the secret it knows. The train itself is carrying at least one passenger with deadly intentions, and possibly another person who may destroy them all.

THE PARIS EXPRESS goes far beyond a chronicling of the events of October 22, 1895, when the train derailed at Montparnasse station. It brings to life the train itself, its crew, and its actual and possible passengers on that fateful day. Emma Donoghue does it in a way that no other author can. She has an uncanny knack for delving deep into the human psyche and making her characters’ emotions burst with passion. This is a retelling of history in its best form.