Those of you who follow my Facebook page know that I, like millions of other readers, have been reading The Girl on the Train this week.
I just finished. I thought it was a fun read with a well-constructed plot, but I also think the frequent comparisons in the media to Gone Girl are a little much. That book gave us two misanthropes in a nasty fight that started at the beginning and accelerated all the way to the end. This novel is completely different.
Yes, The Girl on The Train is a dark, suspenseful mystery about domestic angst, and the plot is built on surprises and big twists, much like Gone Girl. But really, the more apt comparison for this novel is Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Like that movie, this story is about a depressed loner whose unhealthy interest in other people’s lives gets her wrapped up in something much bigger than her.
Here’s the book blurb:
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
The story is intertwining first person narration, and our primary narrator (Rachel) isn’t entirely reliable. An alcoholic with a history of drunken blackouts, Rachel doesn’t trust her own memory, so we don’t either. Author Paula Hawkins has fun dancing around the big reveal in this story, and I enjoyed the way she teased at it until the end. Things we need to know are locked away in the memories of several characters. Some get revealed late because our narrator can’t remember them. Some get revealed late just because the author’s having fun.
I had fun too. I can see why so many readers stayed up late finishing this novel. I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller or a good mystery.
