The Sad Woman On The Train

The Girl On The Train Review

By Sithmi

Every day the same. Until today.
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens.
She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of those houses. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
But then she sees something shocking, and in one moment everything changes.
Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar.
Now they'll see: she's much more than just a girl on the train...

To be frank, the story was depressing. Thankfully only at the start. It took me one week to get to the 3rd chapter and only then did momentum increase in this book, only then did I finally start getting involved. Before that I felt like an outsider getting a peek of a sad, drunk, unemployed, divorced woman with issues of letting go. Since I’m being honest, I didn’t want to continue the book, I forced myself to read because I knew there has to be a reasonable explanation for this dull start. There was, but we’ll get to that later.

Rachel Watson, our main character is this sad woman. She is hung-over 60% of the time since being an alcoholic is really a full time job with blackouts and whatnot. And thus she is unemployed. But to give reason for the drunk behaviour is her being a divorcee from a loving marriage that ended with a tired cheating husband and depressed drunk wife. Don’t worry she has her reasons, and as I read on I realise its life.

Moving forward, enter couples Watsons and Hipwells, on Blenheim Road in similar laid out houses. Tom Watson, ex-husband of Rachel and Anna Watson, previously only a lover of Tom’s, now known as Mrs. Watson and mother of Evie. Scott and Megan Hipwell aka Jason and Jess as Rachel had named them during her daily commute when she would see this perfect couple. These are the main characters involved in this thriller. Oh and there are a few shifty characters including Megan’s therapist and a red haired man on the train.

This thriller hosts three narrators, the three women, Rachel, Megan and Anna. Sad to say Megan disappears. Rachel involves herself in this because of what she saw and tries to make sense of the memory she lost on the day Megan went missing, because Rachel was on that very street of the two couples' homes, possibly harassing Tom’s new family again. As the story continues, we get an insight into Megan’s life, present and past. We understand slowly what might have happened.

As Rachel navigates through lies and alcoholic relapses and more disappointing looks from whoever is left to give them, she gives us reason to empathise her and her past that lead to her tragic present. And Anna, a character I despised for obvious reasons, doesn’t make her case any better by being a paranoid mother with a serious vendetta against Rachel. Okay there’s one singular reason for the paranoia but come on Anna, you took what was left of poor Rachel’s life.

With the end coming to a close with Rachel’s memory growing stronger, readers can realise and sigh with relief as confirmation comes to who the real culprit is. Though we all know one of these people is the real killer (yes there is also a murder, but I won’t elaborate otherwise I can’t hide the plot twist), the truth makes it all clearer and just surprising. Hawkins really holds on to the evidence and the hints until the very end, until the last 10 chapters. Then the flashbacks and memories and fear of three women combine and piece together the real story, the real killer.

This psychological thriller that follows the theme of unreliable narrators explores a few uncommon things: female minds and will, male minds and power, strength of emotion, memory and feelings, abuse and loss of all types. All three females reminisce about their past lives and how freeing it was compared to their current situations. Megan had a darker past however and she had problems due to it as well. The females seem to all want the same thing, to love and be loved, security. But to Megan and Anna who had achieved that, they wanted to go back to the days where they were wanted and envied by all, their glory days of adventure. Each female has to deal with their own problem but they are somewhat similar. In the end, there is always a price attached to freedom or even the secret touch of it.

Paula Hawkins did a great job with this story. She explored topics, several of them, that weren't dared to, in one story. If only the start was a little more captivating. Nevertheless, it was one great thriller. And I found there is a movie, which I will try to watch to see if it is up to par.