Routine is what grounds us, what keeps us sane amidst the chaos of our lives. It’s what grounds Rachel Watson, who takes the train every day to and from work even after the loss of her job. Every day she sits in the library, only to take the train home to the flat she shares with a friend from college, until one day her routine is interrupted by something she sees on the side of the train tracks.
Paula Hawkins makes a stunning debut with her thriller, The Girl on the Train. This novel is about Rachel and her fixation on a couple whose house she sees every day from the train. Soon, the wife in the pairing goes missing and Rachel becomes obsessed with the investigation. Though the plot can be simply summed up with those few words, The Girl on the Train is about so much more. Hawkins explores the topics of love, lust, fidelity and betrayal in this page-turner.
Hawkins displays her incredible writing capabilities in this multidimensional story by writing from the perspectives of many different characters. Though at first the reader may think they have a pretty clear idea of who the antagonist is, that clarity is revealed to be an illusion created by the differing narratives. Hawkin’s ability to warp perspectives is a mark of an immensely talented author. In addition, each perspective is written in the distinct and unique voice of whichever character is narrating.
Though the storyline may be a bit overdone, Hawkins rises above the cliché of a missing wife and delves into something much more intense and thought-provoking. Each chapter of this novel contains a surprise, as the reader struggles to comprehend the full story. It really isn’t until the end of the novel that each piece of Hawkins’ carefully-laid puzzle really comes together, but when it does, not a piece is out of place. The story started in a fractured manner, leaving the reader to guess about each backstory until it is definitively revealed later on in the book. Hawkins wraps up her story nicely, leaving the reader with a satisfying sense of closure that seems to be missing from most books in this genre, such as Gone Girl.
However, the novel does not sacrifice complexity for closure. In fact, the beauty of The Girl on the Train lies in its complexity. Rachel is constantly wondering whom she can trust while finding no answer. Each character possesses a dark side that he or she reveals at some point in the novel, leaving the reader to question who is capable of true evil.
@ChronyArts