I'm used to reading stories with main characters that have baggage, which makes for richer storytelling and provides potential for character growth. But it's been a while since I read about a character as despairing as Rachel. Her alcoholism (a result of her failure to get pregnant) obviously leads to many of her problems. Not only does it cost her her marriage to Scott, she also lost her job because she can't quite keep her drinking off working hours. She knows she has to stop but can't, and makes plenty of questionable decisions when she's far gone in her drink. It certainly doesn't help when her drinking spells cause her to have holes in her memory. The further I read into
The Girl on the Train, I seesawed between sympathy, pity and frustration for Rachel. I want to like her, because she's in bad need of a win in her life, but sometimes she makes it so hard for even the most empathetic of readers to do so.
While Rachel is central in the story, she isn't the lone voice of
The Girl on the Train. The story shifts to the perspective of
Megan Hipwell and Anna. Megan is actually the name of the woman Rachel named as Jess, who Rachel idealized as having the perfect marriage to Jason, who in turn is actually named
Scott. Megan's timeline of storytelling starts a few months prior to Rachel's own, and is pivotal in unraveling the central mystery of the
The Girl on the Train. Megan herself is a flawed character, one who is constantly restless despite the stability that her husband Scott offers. She is constantly on the lookout for something new to experience, whether it be a job or an extramarital relationship. In a way, Rachel was right to envy Jess/Megan, because Megan stands up for herself and doesn't back down from getting what she wants, but those very same qualities could prove to cost her so much more than her marriage to Scott.
Anna, on the other hand, has fewer chapters than either women, but has an important voice nonetheless. In Anna, we encounter a woman who secretly celebrated the status of a mistress but now works to convince herself that her life as a wife and mother is all she needs and deserve. She is constantly haunted by Rachel's interference in their life, though little guilt factors in her thoughts regarding her husband's ex-wife. It might be easy to hate Anna, because of her shared history with Rachel, but she herself has her own insecurities and makes her own realizations that you can only hope would lead to the right decisions.
The men also feature in the storytelling, but Tom, Scott and
Dr. Kamal Abdic are given shape and form through the narratives provided by the three women. Author Paula Hawkins doesn't neglect in fleshing out their characters, though, and for that, the story is all the richer for it.
The Girl on the Train is a mystery at its core, albeit one that parades as a character study of flawed women initially. But when the mystery rears its head, the novel takes on a shape that I found myself liking more and more. The last few chapters, in particular, made it hard for me to stop reading. In the end,
The Girl on the Train rewards all the negative feelings you feel for these women and their flaws with a satisfying ending, although you're never quite sure if anybody ever got a true happy ending.
But I suppose it's the ending they all deserve.
Happy reading!!
P.S. A film
adaptation will be released later this year. After reading the book, I realized this story could be better served in the
film format, especially if you just watch Rachel and her depressing moments, instead of having to read through pages of self pity. Also...
Emily Blunt,
Rebecca Ferguson,
Justin Theroux and
Luke Evans are part of the cast. So, I'm pretty much on board with this.
