I finally got around to reading “The Girl On The Train”, the recent bestseller by Paula Hawkins that has been billed as this year’s “Gone Girl. [1]The structure of the book is similar to GG with the story being told from multiple characters points of view. In this story three women present the different points of view. There is the main character Rachel (the girl on the train), Megan (the missing girl) and Anna (the girl who marries Rachel’s ex-husband and lives on the same street as Megan).
Rachel rides the train each day to and from London and the train stops at the same signal each day where she looks out at the same set of houses, one of which is where Megan and her husband Scott live (Rachel dubs them Jess and Jason until she learns their real names). They are always out on their deck and appear to be a loving couple living the perfect life. Then one day Rachel sees Megan on her deck with a man, who is not her husband, leaning over and kissing her. How can this be? Scott and Megan are the perfect couple. Not long after this Megan goes missing and we are off to the races (or down the train tracks).
Rachel has been in a bit of a downward spiral since her marriage to Tom broke up. She becomes increasingly depressed and starts drinking way too much. There are many drunken fights. Then Anna sweeps in and takes Tom (and they quickly have a baby adding to Rachel’s pain). Now Rachel rents a room in a friend’s house up the train line. The drinking continues to the point that Rachel blacks out in her old neighborhood (stalking Tom and Anna) on the night that Megan disappears. Rachel wants to help by going to the police about what she has seen from the train but her deteriorating condition makes her an “unreliable” witness.
The story unfolds slowly and carefully, with each of the character’s back-story filled in to create more and more depth and complexity. Gradually doubts and questions creep in from every corner of the story as we try to determine who is responsible for Megan’s disappearance. Was it Megan’s husband? Her therapist? Someone from her past? Or did she just disappear? Could it be Rachel? And what did Rachel see the night she blacked out? Will she be able to remember enough to shed some light on what happened to Megan? It’s a twister Dorothy!
So I think it is worth checking out “The Girl On The Train”. And for all you train commuters you may want to look straight ahead at those signal stops.
Afterword: The other book that I have recently read and recommend is “The Martian” by Andy Weir. During an expedition to Mars a savage dust storm causes the captain of the crew to abort the mission after only six day (sols in Martian time). They believe one of their crew has been killed in the storm so they leave Mars in their ship without him. Only one catch… he’s not dead. Now he’s stranded on Mars and must find a way to stay alive until the next Mars mission that is four years away. What really made the book enjoyable for me is the guy they left behind, Mark Watney, in addition to being brilliant (he is a botanist and an engineer), is a serious wiseass and the story is told via his hilarious journal entries. It’s fun and suspenseful at the same time as we watch Mark try to stay alive long enough to be rescued.
[1] The comparison to Gone Girl brings up another question.This being Hawkins’ first novel (GG was Flynn’s third novel) one wonders about she will follow through after her first book was such a mega-hit. The temptation to play to the audience can be strong.