Many people have raved about this book. Many. I feel as though for one solid week at the onset of summer every talk show host was talking about the book. They read it, loved it, couldn't put it down. So, I got it and it sat on my night table. I knew enough about the overall plot of the book (a girl who rides the train into London every day sees something shocking one day on her ride into the city...something she can't keep to herself) to know that I had to be in the right frame of mind to read a book like this. Last week I finally picked it up, took a deep breath, and prepared myself to be consumed by the story until it was over.
Except I wasn't. It took me over a week to read this book. I didn't find the story to be a page turner at all, until the last 75 pages. I know now that the author was just building background and telling the story that ultimately unfolds in the last 75 pages, but it was, for me, a slow moving, rather depressing story until then. And even after the story was over it was sad and depressing. But very scary. Very. Like Gone Girl scary. I am now completely convinced that you never really know people. Or that at the very least they can truly surprise you.
The Girl on the Train is the story of Rachel, an unemployed girl who lives outside of London but continues to take the train into the city every day so that her landlord/roommate won't know that she's lost her job. She's also a divorced alcoholic who obsessively tracks the life of her ex-husband and his new family.
But The Girl on the Train is also the story of Megan and Anna. Anna is the new wife of Rachel's ex, Tom. Megan lives a few doors down from Tom and Anna and actually works as their "child minder" (I love that!) for a bit for their daughter Evie. By the time the story ends, it really is hard to pick one woman from the story that you feel the most sympathy for. At first I thought it was Rachel, as she really has it tough: can't get pregnant with no real reason why, failed IVF, turns to drinking to soothe her pain, her husband has an affair, leaves her, marries the girl (Anna) and then they have a baby. Rubbing salt in her wounds, Rachel's train stops behind their house every day. She can see into their home, their back yard. She just can't seem to get away from them. But by the end I was very worried about not just Rachel, for obvious reasons, but also Anna, who just didn't see any of the events of the story coming. She was totally blind sighted. And Megan...well...you can't help but feel total pity and sadness for poor Megan. You will have to read the book to find out why that is. I refuse to ruin it for you here.
The Girl on the Train is a great read. If you like a mystery, want to be a little scared, and want a story that is totally fresh and new, you need to read this book. There's nothing out there like it, that's for sure. And, if it's not already in the works, I predict a movie based on the book. This story lends itself nicely to a movie.
Happy reading, everyone!
:) Dodie
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