Speeding Toward Self-destruction

Ever read a book where you disliked all the characters, disliked everything they did, disliked where it was all headed, and yet couldn’t put it down? If not, you can start with Paula Hawkins’ debut psychological thriller ‘The Girl on The Train’.

Writer of pulp crime-fiction, Jim Thompson, once shared, “there is only one plot- things are not what they seem”. Paula Hawkins takes these words to heart, fragments the lives of her characters into a chilling jigsaw puzzle, and leaves you wondering what will emerge as you put the last few pieces in place. Who knows whom, how do they know each other, and who is hiding what?

Flitting between a first person narrative of three women, the story shares the perspective of Rachel, Megan, and Anna, each in a sorrier state than the other. Rachel is a thirty-something divorced alcoholic who boards a commuter train headed for London, daily, to go to a job she doesn’t have. She lives vicariously by watching the lives of a perfect-seeming couple (whom she has christened Jess and Jason) from the train window; it provides her a clear view of their backyard when the train stops at a red signal. A few houses down the lane live Tom and Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband and the other woman, now married and also parents of a baby daughter Evie. 

And then, one day, Jess disappears. Has she been killed? Has she run away? Was it the husband? Who is responsible?

Rachel feels personally invested in the case as she had seen Jess (or Megan as the world knows her) kiss a man, other than her husband, just a day before her disappearance. She feels compelled to share this information with the police who dismiss her as a mentally unstable drunk. Consumed by curiosity, she decides to take matters in her own hand and tells Jason (or Scott outside of Rachel's imagination) about his wife’s affair with a handsome dark man. She thinks she remembers something important. She wants to feel useful. She wants to help. Or, does she?

I had, quite early on, guessed the perpetrator. You don’t grow up reading an Agatha Christie every day without learning that the only one to commit a crime is someone who seemingly has no reason to do so. What kept me hooked to the book was not ‘Who’ but ‘Why’ and ‘How’.

The writing style is simple, straightforward, and tinged with melancholy. The story takes us deep into the messed-up minds of the characters through the at-times confused and mostly disturbing thoughts they share. The characters, themselves, are well-developed, complex and pull you into their unhappy lives without much effort.

I found Rachel quite annoying and was frustrated by her inability to stop herself from going to pieces. It’s just a failed marriage, not the end of the world! She comes apart completely after her divorce with Tom and even 2 years later, finds solace only in drinking herself to a stupor. Her introspection, while certainly meaningful, is impotent as she does absolutely nothing with her realizations.

It’s ridiculous, when I think about it. How did I find myself here? I wonder where it started, my decline; I wonder at what point I could have halted it. Where did I take the wrong turn?

‘What happened to you, Rachel?’ he asked me. ‘When did you become so weak?’ I don’t know. I don’t know where that strength went, I don’t remember losing it. I think over time it got chipped away, bit by bit, by life, by the living of it.

Megan and Scott live a life very different from the one conceived in Rachel's fertile imagination. Scott is a possessive and controlling husband. Megan is so deeply marked by a tragedy from her younger years that her present has become nothing more than recurring attempts to escape her past through short-lived affairs. I feared for her future as I realized the possible repercussions of all that she is hiding. And, it turns out I was right to worry for secrets are difficult to hide forever.

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, and seven for a secret never to be told.

I’ve got a few of those.

Selfish, remorseless Anna is thrilled to have snatched Tom from Rachel and loses no time in creating the proverbial happy family trio of husband, wife, and child.

Being the other woman is a huge turn-on, there’s no point denying it: you’re the one he can’t help betray his wife for, even though he loves her. That’s just how irresistible you are.

Tom, the consummate liar, is someone no one knows well, not his wives and not even the reader. He kept me busy in trying to figure him out.

Soaked in suspense, this compulsive marital thriller will have you furiously flipping pages till you reach the unsurprisingly unpleasant end. What does surprise, however, is the book’s ability to change an opinion. I started with disliking Rachel the most and ended with unwillingly liking her best of the three women.  My feelings for Tom began with a mild distaste for his infidelity, and as the story progressed, they rose to an unforgiving abhorrence. He is one nasty piece of work! 

In a nutshell, reading ‘The Girl on the Train’ is akin to watching cars on a collision course, knowing it can’t end well, and yet finding yourself unable to look away. Recommended to those who like to explore the dark side of human nature through flawed characters and bloodthirsty plots!