The Girl On The Train

Author: Paula Hawkins 

Publisher: Riverhead, 2015

My source: Louisville Free Public Library

My husband and I listened to this book on Audible during our 10 hour drive from Louisville to Panama City Beach and back in August 2015. I recently read the Kindle version because one of my fellow book club members chose it for our May book (thanks Lisa.)

I have read mixed reviews of this book, but being that it is a psychological thriller focusing on human flaws and failing relationships it is right up my alley. The first page grabbed me instantly because it describes a simple gravesite, but no clues about the identity of the deceased or manner of death. From there the story backtracks to the events leading up to the death which kept me guessing until the end. 

The chapters are written from the different perspectives of three main characters. I enjoyed this format because I was able to understand the unique and disturbing ways the characters thought and felt about themselves and the events in the story. I wonder, though, if I would have had difficulty distinguishing between the characters if I had not first listened to the audible version and heard the different characters’ voices. 

One unique aspect about this book is that there are two timelines going on. This was a bit confusing at first, but each chapter is marked with the date and I quickly caught on.

The primary character is Rachel, a divorced woman in her early 30’s who rides a commuter train every weekday back and forth from her home in the suburbs to the city of London. Day after day she looks out the train window and notices things.

There is a pile of clothing on the side of the train tracks. Light-blue cloth—a shirt, perhaps—jumbled up with something dirty white. It’s probably rubbish, part of a load dumped into the scrubby little wood up the bank. It could have been left behind by the engineers who work this part of the track, they’re here often enough. Or it could be something else. My mother used to tell me that I had an overactive imagination; Tom said that, too. I can’t help it, I catch sight of these discarded scraps, a dirty T-shirt or a lonesome shoe, and all I can think of is the other shoe and the feet that fitted into them.

At one train stop, she always sees the same couple sitting outside on their deck. Rachel is comforted by this, starts to feel as though she knows them, and even assigns them names. She imagines the perfect life they lead, a life quite similar to the one she has lost but not quite let go of.

One day Rachel sees something that shocks and upsets her. She becomes obsessed with the couple and subsequently inserts herself into their lives. At several points in the story she realizes she should back off, but she can’t help herself. Rachel is lonely and bored and wants to feel included in something. Her neediness results in her getting mixed up in a death investigation. I knew this wouldn’t end well, and kept wanting to tell her to stop as she embedded herself deeper and deeper into the mess and hooked me deeper and deeper into the story.  

As a side note, one of the minor characters is a psychotherapist. As a former psychotherapist, I am always concerned about the way the profession is portrayed in fiction. I’ll let you form your own opinion about this portrayal. 

I really enjoyed this book, probably more so the second time around because I was paying better attention to the nuances of the characters’ personalities. The story was surprising at times and suspenseful throughout. I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed Gone Girl.

Rating: 4 out of 5 high fives

                     

Bonus: The movie version of the book comes out on October 7, 2016.