The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Reviewed by
Cassandra, Teen Librarian at Mary Jacobs Library
If you loved Gone
Girl …
The main character
Rachel is a heavy drinker, whose life is teetering on the edge. She has lost
her husband, and her job. Yet, she continues to ride the train into the city
every day, pretending to go to work. Along the way, Rachel creates a story
about a perfect couple whose home backs the tracks, a home just a few houses
down from where she lived with her husband.
Enter Megan, whose story begins one year before Rachel’s. I must confess, I got a little confused with the dates interspersed throughout the story, but realized the author was using them cleverly. Megan’s story seems to move quickly forward, while Rachel’s, very slowly. I thought they were a perfect analogy for two trains on different tracks, bound to converge at some point along the way. And converge they do. Megan goes missing on a day Rachel has drank herself into a black out. What has happened to Megan and what does her story have to do with not only Rachel herself, but also her fantasy story of the perfect couple? This is definitely a thriller that kept me moving quickly through the pages.
Enter Megan, whose story begins one year before Rachel’s. I must confess, I got a little confused with the dates interspersed throughout the story, but realized the author was using them cleverly. Megan’s story seems to move quickly forward, while Rachel’s, very slowly. I thought they were a perfect analogy for two trains on different tracks, bound to converge at some point along the way. And converge they do. Megan goes missing on a day Rachel has drank herself into a black out. What has happened to Megan and what does her story have to do with not only Rachel herself, but also her fantasy story of the perfect couple? This is definitely a thriller that kept me moving quickly through the pages.
