The 6:41 to Paris

&quot;A strong plot and a touching portrayal of how any of us might feel when unexpectedly confronted by the detritus of young love ... <i>The 6:41 to Paris</i> is a timely reminder that the past is always waiting to ambush us.&quot; - <i>The New York Times Sunday Book Review</i><p></p><p>&quot;Blondel conveys ... a shared, suspenseful dread that makes you want to turn every page at locomotive pace.&quot; - <i>The St. Louis Post-Dispatch</i></p><p>&quot;A taut, suspenseful psychological journey from which there is no escape. <i>The 6:41 to Paris</i> shatters any illusions that acts of cruelty committed in our youth are of little consequence later in life. A gripping yarn for our time.&quot; - Kati Marton, author of <i>Paris: A Love Story</i></p><p>&quot;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.&quot;<br> - <i>Kirkus Reviews</i></p><p>&quot;Perfectly written and a remarkably suspenseful read ... an absorbing, intriguing, insightful book for all readers.&quot; - <i>Library Journal</i> (Starred review) </p><br><p>&quot;Clever and gripping, <i>The 6:41 to Paris</i> offers an intimate look at what happens when, during a fateful meeting, two old flames are unexpectedly forced to face their lives and the choices they've made in the past. Through his masterful use of a dual narrative, Blondel takes the reader on an intense emotional journey, and, as the train rumbles down the tracks, the suspense builds. Unputdownable.&quot; - Samantha Vérant, author of <i>Seven Letters from Paris: A Memoir</i></p><br><p>&quot;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.&quot; - <i>Publishers Weekly</i></p><br><p>&quot;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.&quot; - <i>World Literature Today</i></p><br><p>&quot;A terrific read. Jean-Philippe Blondel writes masterfully about the astonishing private realm, with two alternating monologues that echo one another.&quot; - <i>L'Express</i></p><p>&quot;A fine book, in wonderfully precise and sensitive language, unpretentious and full of small truths.&quot; - <i>Die Presse</i></p><p>&quot;Funny, wise and conciliatory.&quot; - <i>Stern</i></p><p>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.</p><p><b>Jean-Philippe Blondel </b>was born in 1964 in Troyes, France where he lives as an author and English teacher. His novel <i>The 6:41 to Paris </i>has been a bestseller in both France and Germany.<br></p>