I’ll admit it: there are many people out there (including all the publicity departments and book sellers) that are saying The Girl on the Train is the next Gone Girl novel. People are looking for a story that has some twists and turns—where the author is always several steps ahead of the reader. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins might be disappointing to you if you are hoping this novel is of that caliber. I did find the book similar with its unforeseen plot challenges that might surprise you.
The Girl on the Train is written in three different women’s voices, all central characters in this novel; the actions of each become interwoven in a somewhat creepy way. The majority of the narration follows the ruminations of alcoholic Rachel, an unhappy, divorced suburbanite of London. Her relationship with the other characters from the street where she once lived when she was married continue to shadow her every waking moment. She becomes a “stalker” – using the window of the train she rides each morning.
It is one of these mornings that she sees something that causes her imagination to go into overdrive. Did she really see something of note? What can’t she seem to remember (because she is inebriated) that might be really important?
The writing was a little disjointed, but as the story moved forward I wondered what Hawkins had in store for the three women whose lives were inexplicably on a collision course. You can give it a try, and see what everyone is talking about: is it another Gone Girl?
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