The 6:41 to Paris - by Jean-Philippe Blondel (Paperback)

About the Book

Brilliant psychological thriller constructed like an intensely intimate theater performance, a high-wire act of emotions on rails.

Book Synopsis

"A strong plot and a touching portrayal of how any of us might feel when unexpectedly confronted by the detritus of young love ... The 6:41 to Paris is a timely reminder that the past is always waiting to ambush us."--The New York Times Sunday Book Review

"Perfectly written and a remarkably suspenseful read ... an absorbing, intriguing, insightful book for all readers."--Library Journal (Starred review)

Cécile, a stylish forty-seven-year-old, has spent the weekend visiting her parents in a provincial town southeast of Paris. By early Monday morning, she's exhausted. These trips back home are always stressful, and she settles into a train compartment with an empty seat beside her. But it's soon occupied by a man she instantly recognizes: Philippe Leduc, with whom she had a passionate affair that ended in her brutal humiliation thirty years ago. In the fraught hour and a half that ensues, their express train hurtles towards the French capital. Cécile and Philippe undertake their own face to face journey--In silence? What could they possibly say to one another?--with the reader gaining entrée to the most private of thoughts. This is a psychological thriller about past romance, with all its pain and promise.

Reading group guide is available from New Vessel Press.

Review Quotes

"A strong plot and a touching portrayal of how any of us might feel when unexpectedly confronted by the detritus of young love ... The 6:41 to Paris is a timely reminder that the past is always waiting to ambush us."--The New York Times Sunday Book Review

"A taut, suspenseful psychological journey from which there is no escape. The 6:41 to Paris shatters any illusions that acts of cruelty committed in our youth are of little consequence later in life. A gripping yarn for our time."--Kati Marton, author of Paris: A Love Story

"Blondel conveys ... a shared, suspenseful dread that makes you want to turn every page at locomotive pace."--The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Perfectly written and a remarkably suspenseful read ... an absorbing, intriguing, insightful book for all readers."--Library Journal (Starred review)

"A fast, yet deep journey through the characters' experiences of anger, triumph, remorse, and forgiveness, Blondel's novel ... reminds us that even long-ago heartbreaks have the power to ignite our most powerful emotions."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Two former lovers find themselves sitting next to each other on a train after 27 years apart ... as their thoughts compellingly trace the meandering paths between who they once were and who they are now."--Publishers Weekly

"A compelling story ... examining what happens in our minds when we undergo unexpected encounters that are both awkward and personal. Memory, pain, love, and privacy all permeate the clear, clever prose."--World Literature Today

"A terrific read. Jean-Philippe Blondel writes masterfully about the astonishing private realm, with two alternating monologues that echo one another."
--L'Express

"So much of this quiet and introspective novel is a touching portrayal of life's disappointments and what happens when one is unexpectedly ambushed by the past. Short and sweet."
--The Mountaineer

"A book for the heart that from the first until the last sentence you can't put down."
--Westfälische Nachrichten

"Avoids the trap of sentimentality ... It also reads as the reflection of our contemporary condition."-- Le Nouvel Observateur

"Blondel has written a comedy about an awkward encounter that's a must-read. Funny, wise and conciliatory."--Stern

"A fine book, in wonderfully precise and sensitive language, unpretentious and full of small truths."-- Die Presse

About the Author

Jean-Philippe Blondel was born in 1964 in Troyes, France, where he lives as an author and English teacher. His novel The 6:41 to Paris has been a best-seller in both France and Germany.

Alison Anderson is a novelist and translator whose previous translations include The Elegance of the Hedgehog.