On October 22, 1895, a train left Granville, France, headed for Paris, with several stops along the way. With four railroad employees and a range of first, second, and third-class passengers — including the uber-wealthy man whose private car was attached during an unscheduled stop — the titular Paris Express was helping everyone from painters and fisherfolk to politicians and students and businessmen shorten a days-long commute into one that usually takes about eight hours. However, an angry young woman boarded the train in Granville with ulterior motives, determined to make a political statement with a spectacle of her own creation. As the train speeds toward Paris, tensions increase and it's clear that this is no ordinary journey.
Loosely based on an actual event, this book was a suspenseful trip to the late 19th Century in France, with a wide range of actual historical people riding the train. Now the "loosely" part is the fact that while the people are real, very few of them were actually on the train in question, something that is revealed in the author's note at the end of the book. Really, it was a fun read, reminiscent of The Great Train Robbery and even the non-fiction Dead Wake — until that author's note. So if you want historical accuracy, this might not be the best place to get it. However, if you just want a suspenseful historical train ride, this is a fun one.
No comments:
Post a Comment