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The Train to Paris
She entered the station, wearing a white leopard-print dress that was short enough to show off her legs. Her hair slid down the back of her neck in a curtain of gold, which shimmered as it passed through the updraught. There was a conspicuous ring on her finger. Her head turned and her eyes almost met with mine. I looked away.
Lawrence Williams is twenty. A student of art history, he is just awakening to the world. After a disastrous holiday in Spain with his girlfriend, he catches the train back to Paris. But a delay leaves him stranded at the border, and that’s when Élodie Lavelle strolls into the quiet station. Seductive and surprising, The Train to Paris is an unforgettable love story.
‘Sebastian Hampson is that rare thing: a writer of ideas who is also compulsively readable.’
Nicholas Edlin, author of The Widow's Daughter
Lawrence Williams is twenty. A student of art history, he is just awakening to the world. After a disastrous holiday in Spain with his girlfriend, he catches the train back to Paris. But a delay leaves him stranded at the border, and that’s when Élodie Lavelle strolls into the quiet station. Seductive and surprising, The Train to Paris is an unforgettable love story.
‘Sebastian Hampson is that rare thing: a writer of ideas who is also compulsively readable.’
Nicholas Edlin, author of The Widow's Daughter
- GenresFiction
292 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2014
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47 people want to read
About the author
Sebastian Hampson
2 books1 followerSebastian Hampson has studied and written on the history of modern art and urban design. He has lived in Europe and the United States and is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand. His first novel, The Train to Paris, was also published by Text.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 21, 2025
I found this book very slow going. I just couldn’t get into it.
April 29, 2015
I really enjoyed The Train to Paris by Sebastian Hampson. This is the first novel by this author & it reads just like a 'movie'.
Full of imagination, suspense and romance, capturing the spirit and streets of Paris.
It is seductive and surprising.
I really look forward to reading Sebastian's next book as I feel he is a very talented writer.
Full of imagination, suspense and romance, capturing the spirit and streets of Paris.
It is seductive and surprising.
I really look forward to reading Sebastian's next book as I feel he is a very talented writer.
May 28, 2017
Sorry for this rating but not my literature style.. 1 star is just for making me feel like in Paris again..
February 26, 2014
The Train To Paris is the first novel by New Zealand author, Sebastian Hampson. When twenty-year-old art history student, Lawrence Williams finds himself stuck at a border station, unable to get a train back to Paris, it seems recent events have left him ripe for the allure that surrounds Élodie Lavelle. Almost before he knows it, he is in her thrall, on his way to Biarritz with her, heading for an experience of a lifetime. Élodie, twice his age, seems rich, sophisticated and worldly, but also unlike anyone he has ever met. Lawrence is young and inexperienced: serious, somewhat naïve, although not exactly innocent, he stumbles, almost open-mouthed, after this seemingly unknowable creature whose one aim is to have fun. And despite warnings, despite his distaste for her games, he is unable to turn away: “Her unstoppable momentum had returned, and I felt myself pulled along. I was not so reluctant this time.” Hampson divides his novel into two parts, covering Lawrence’s three encounters with the fascinating Élodie. Lawrence’s assertion “I think that any experience is worth it, so long as you learn something about yourself in the process.” might apply equally to both of the main characters, as their encounters perhaps teach each of them something, although from Lawrence’s first-person narration, the reader is left wondering about Élodie. Hampson’s prose superbly renders the atmosphere of summer in Biarritz and winter in Paris. His self-absorbed Lawrence is very believable, and some of the ancillary characters are also well-portrayed. This is a remarkable debut novel, and it will be interesting to see what Hampson comes up with next.
December 16, 2013
New Zealand author Sebastian Hampson is only twenty one years old, and, on the strength of The Train to Paris is a talent to be excited about. I have read a preview copy of the book and it's not released until late February but you should make a note now. This is a compelling story of a naïve young man who, through circumstances both unexpected and beyond his control ends up as the parmaore of a worldly older woman after their travel plans are sidelined as they both have Paris in their sights. Young Lawrence is given a lesson in life he'll never forget as Elodie Lavell introduces him to the finer points of life (among other things) in Biarritz. As a young and inexperienced New Zealander, a long way from home, Lawrence is mesmerised by the experience. His world is turned on its axis. Months later, back in Paris, Lawrence and Elodie hook up again and he is again under her spell. In any terms this is a cheeky and fun read. For a fresh new writer a statement novel. Can't wait for the next.
November 20, 2015
Two stars or "It was OK". Hmm, well just about.
I wasn't set on fire by this book. I quite enjoyed it, but on reflection it didn't really go anywhere and it did at times feel a little like a teenage fantasy of what might happen with an older woman.
The story of twenty year old New Zealand boy in Europe to study art history, who gets stuck in a remote town by a rail strike and is rescued by a forty-something ex-porn star to treats him to some five star luxury. Her attempts to educate him in a finer life and offer him tips on his relationship when she obviously cannot manage her own, eventually come across as a little trite. I suppose the only realistic emotion was the boy torn between an absent girl-friend and the temptation of this older woman. Would he resist? Pretty unlikely, so why torture yourself for making the same choice most people would have done in the same position?
In the end I was glad that I only paid a dollar for this at the local book fair.
I wasn't set on fire by this book. I quite enjoyed it, but on reflection it didn't really go anywhere and it did at times feel a little like a teenage fantasy of what might happen with an older woman.
The story of twenty year old New Zealand boy in Europe to study art history, who gets stuck in a remote town by a rail strike and is rescued by a forty-something ex-porn star to treats him to some five star luxury. Her attempts to educate him in a finer life and offer him tips on his relationship when she obviously cannot manage her own, eventually come across as a little trite. I suppose the only realistic emotion was the boy torn between an absent girl-friend and the temptation of this older woman. Would he resist? Pretty unlikely, so why torture yourself for making the same choice most people would have done in the same position?
In the end I was glad that I only paid a dollar for this at the local book fair.
February 5, 2015
Contains spoilers. While I think Hampson shows talent as a writer, what made me really dislike this book was the character Elodie. She was clichéd and wasn't likeable whatsoever. I couldn't connect with her or understand why Lawrence was so in awe of her. The art references bored me (I am not arty so this is a subjective opinion), the sex scenes were short and seemed like they had been avoided (one of the primary focuses is Lawrence losing his virginity so shouldn't the sex scenes be hot or at least descriptive?) and the novel just wanders without really going anywhere. She's a porn actress- not a big surprise. Great cover however, props to the artist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2014
On the surface this is a simple story. Boy meets older woman. Older woman is cruel, cynical, world-weary. Boy is naive and innocent.
It's the interaction between these two that is fascinating.
We want her to be kinder, him to be wiser but it's this mismatch that makes for a compelling story.
My only concern was with the final chapter - things tied up too neatly when there was nothing neat about the rest of the story and it was this 'un-neatness', this mismatch that I liked so much.
I think Hampson is a writer to watch.
It's the interaction between these two that is fascinating.
We want her to be kinder, him to be wiser but it's this mismatch that makes for a compelling story.
My only concern was with the final chapter - things tied up too neatly when there was nothing neat about the rest of the story and it was this 'un-neatness', this mismatch that I liked so much.
I think Hampson is a writer to watch.
November 1, 2014
I interviewed this author as we live in the same city here in NZ!! He is lovely and genuine and you can read the interview at www.yvonneanderson.me
I told him that reading his book was like taking a gentle stroll through a park with the main character and he smiled and said that was so lovely to hear. He had never heard his book described this way. It was a simple yet elegant book and I read it in one afternoon ;)
I told him that reading his book was like taking a gentle stroll through a park with the main character and he smiled and said that was so lovely to hear. He had never heard his book described this way. It was a simple yet elegant book and I read it in one afternoon ;)
November 27, 2014
Read this book in one day. I just couldn't put it down
It's got those kind of characters that annoy you with their mannerisms, yet intrigue you as to how they ended up that way. The story itself is simple, not in a bad way. It leaves out some of the details that you wait the whole book to find out and doesn't have the cliche ending of romance novels.
Please take no offence Gatsby fans, but this to me is a modern day great Gatsby... Sort of
It's got those kind of characters that annoy you with their mannerisms, yet intrigue you as to how they ended up that way. The story itself is simple, not in a bad way. It leaves out some of the details that you wait the whole book to find out and doesn't have the cliche ending of romance novels.
Please take no offence Gatsby fans, but this to me is a modern day great Gatsby... Sort of
May 28, 2014
Loved this book. Couldn't stop reading it. I love the way he describes beachside town Biarritz and snowy Paris. The beguiling Elodie reminds me of Holly Golightly from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.
January 8, 2016
"An unforgettable love story"? More like, a shambolic shuffling in France by two equally annoying and unlikable undeveloped characters.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews