The Girl on the Train (2015) by Paula Hawkins is a splendidly intriguing mystery.
The novel follows three women Rachel, Anna and Megan and is told from each of their points of view. Rachel is watching a couple on her train journey each day called Megan and Scott but she is imagining their lives totally different from how their actual life is. They live near her ex Tom and his new love Anna and their little daughter Evie so Rachel has a reminder each day that she lost Tom to Anna as well. But then Megan goes missing and is feared dead and Rachel has witnessed from the train her kissing another man that isn’t Scott prior to her disappearance.
This is wonderfully psychological and mysterious. When you start reading the pages seem to fly by. I loved this book and my Mum did too. The two of us found it hard to put down. There is so many layers to this book and the different perspectives help to confuse the reader over and over about what happened to Megan. The writing in this is stunning and descriptive. Another aspect of this book which is interesting besides the mystery is the way many of the characters look at each other’s lives and completely get the wrong end of the stick about how happy or unhappy each other is in their life or the motives behind another character’s actions. Rachel especially is interesting in this aspect. She is very unhappy in her own life about not being able to give birth to a child and her break-up with Tom and how much her prospects in so many areas of her life look bleak to her and through that unhappiness she manages to convince herself that Megan and Scott (or Jess and Jason as she calls them in the fantasy dream-like life she has created for them) are so gloriously happy. In a way it feels like through them she is creating an image of the life she wishes she had with Tom.
It is a book that you find hard to put down so it’s not surprising that it was the fastest-selling adult hardcover novel in book history in 2015 or that it spent over four months on the New York Times Bestseller List after its release. This book has mystery, human emotions and the mundane of life covered perfectly and the whole idea that life is what you make of it. It also speaks about some very important issues like alcohol dependency, domestic abuse and drug dependency very authentically and with wonderful sensitivity. The ending is also rather surprising which is always good for a mystery.
To purchase The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins go to:
And for more on Paula Hawkins and her work go to:
http://paulahawkinsbooks.com/
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