The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins (narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey & India Fisher)
From all I'm reading, it looks like this is going to be on everyone's most-buzzed-about books list. Goodreads is comparing it to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, the latter of which I really enjoyed.
The story revolves around three women. We first meet Rachel on the train. Her London train stops next to the row of houses where she sees a couple she imagines to be perfect, naming them Jess and Jason. She creates whole lives for them, so different from her own. Her own life is on a downward spiral. She's an alcoholic, recently divorced, and even more recently fired from her job, due to her alcoholism. She's a highly unreliable narrator, obviously. Her actions are embarrassingly erratic. It's a fascinating character study. I'm not an alcoholic, nor do I know one (as far as I know), so this is like getting a glimpse into the life of an addict.
There is one particular drunken fugue state that is proving problematic. Rachel can't recall what happened no matter how hard she tries. The novel says that when alcoholics blackout, they aren't able to create any short-term memories, so there is nothing there to recall. She gets images and feelings in fits and starts, but can't get anything concrete. So what exactly happened that night?
Jess is really Megan, married to Scott. Megan used to have an art gallery, but is now just staying at home. There is something in her past that she is unwilling to share and that is casing a pall over her relationship with Scott. So just what is Megan hiding?
Anna is married to Tom Watson, Rachel's ex. There is some animosity there, on both sides. She is extraordinarily unlikable, but is that because the reader empathizes with Rachel so much?
The book has a faintly Rashomon feel to it, because several situations are presented from more than one character's perspectives, colored by their interpretations. In the end nothing is what you expect. I really felt invested in the lives of these women. This doesn't feel like a debut novel. If Paula Hawkins has more of the same in her, it looks like I have a new author to add to the favorites list.
The story revolves around three women. We first meet Rachel on the train. Her London train stops next to the row of houses where she sees a couple she imagines to be perfect, naming them Jess and Jason. She creates whole lives for them, so different from her own. Her own life is on a downward spiral. She's an alcoholic, recently divorced, and even more recently fired from her job, due to her alcoholism. She's a highly unreliable narrator, obviously. Her actions are embarrassingly erratic. It's a fascinating character study. I'm not an alcoholic, nor do I know one (as far as I know), so this is like getting a glimpse into the life of an addict.
There is one particular drunken fugue state that is proving problematic. Rachel can't recall what happened no matter how hard she tries. The novel says that when alcoholics blackout, they aren't able to create any short-term memories, so there is nothing there to recall. She gets images and feelings in fits and starts, but can't get anything concrete. So what exactly happened that night?
Jess is really Megan, married to Scott. Megan used to have an art gallery, but is now just staying at home. There is something in her past that she is unwilling to share and that is casing a pall over her relationship with Scott. So just what is Megan hiding?
Anna is married to Tom Watson, Rachel's ex. There is some animosity there, on both sides. She is extraordinarily unlikable, but is that because the reader empathizes with Rachel so much?
The book has a faintly Rashomon feel to it, because several situations are presented from more than one character's perspectives, colored by their interpretations. In the end nothing is what you expect. I really felt invested in the lives of these women. This doesn't feel like a debut novel. If Paula Hawkins has more of the same in her, it looks like I have a new author to add to the favorites list.
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