‘The girl on the train’ – a book review

by The Flamingo

My book reviews are really seldom in comparison with the amount of literature I consume on a daily basis. That’s not because I don’t like what I read, but because not all the books are inspiring and leave something behind. My latest read by British author Paula Hawkins, however, did that. So here is why I couldn’t put this book down.

The girl on the train is my first modern and proper psychological thriller. I can unabashedly confess that I’m a scaredy-cat. I don’t read stuff that keeps me awake at night, I also don’t watch horror movies for the same reason. The most “thrilling” authors I read are the crime novelist Raymond Chandler and the grotesque Nikolai Gogol. I also tend to ascribe to the “thriller” spectrum more of the “horror” genre qualities, which it’s an exaggeration on my part. The conclusion is: this amazingly thrilling book didn’t keep me awake at night. So it’s safe to read also by people like myself.

This book tackles the very modern mental health issues like depression in its many forms and the consequences it leaves behind on different people. Abuse, both physical and emotional is also very well described. I’m amazed by all the insight this author has in portraying alcoholism, gaslighting and suffering. It’s like she herself experienced first hand everything she is describing on the pages of her story, it’s that well written. 

The novel has a murder at its center and the story of three women around it, three points of view, three destroyed lives:

Rachel is the main character, the girl on the train, the one who watches people. She is consumed by alcoholism and suffering, caused by the divorce from her beloved husband and her infertility. Her story is so heartbreaking and her need to be of help to people, to have a purpose and to feel worth something are bringing her down a very dangerous path.

Megan is the central person everything revolves around. She has been eaten on the inside by depression for many years, despite her “perfect” life as seen from outside. Her character battles some scary inner demons and her releases are very strange and dangerous as well.

Anna is the third key to this story. She is Rachel’s nemesis, the woman who stole her husband away. Unlike the former women, this one is very happy with her new found bliss, or it may only seem that way. She is also eaten by doubt, insecurities and is prone to some unhealthy compromises to keep her status quo. 

Paula Hawkins has a very thrilling way of writing, but realistic and tragic nonetheless. She knows how to show the aesthetic of ugliness in a very raw manner. There is nothing boring or common about this book. Also the reader has to be in a relatively good mental health at the moment of reading The girl on the train. It triggers a lot of sensitivities, I know it triggered some of mine, and I had to handle them without slipping into a black hole. 

The book was also turned into a movie (2016), starring Emily Blunt. I’ve seen it after I read the book. Although it’s ok, and that is because Emily Blunt plays the part of Rachel very well, it doesn’t do the book any justice in my opinion. So my advice is to skip the movie, just read the story. I am very happy with my first thriller choice.  

Photo from Flamingo‘s archive.