The Girl On The Train
Author : Paula Hawkins
Published : January, 2015
Genre : Psychological Thriller
Achievements
#1 on the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2015
Sold over a Million Copies in less than two months after its release
Film Adaptations
The Girl on the Train (2016) - Emily Blunt played the main lead in this American adapation of the novel.
The Girl on the Train (2021) - Parineeti Chopra played the main lead in this Indian adapation of the novel.
The story is a first-person narrative told from the point of view of three women: Rachel Watson, Anna Boyd/Watson, and Megan Hipwell.
Rachel’s narration begins in 2013 as she commutes on the train into London from the suburbs. Despite having lost her job in public relations due to her alcohol use disorder, Rachel continues to take the trains she used to ride and fantasizes about the neighbors of her ex-husband, Tom Watson. Tom, his new wife (Anna), and their baby live near Megan and Scott Hipwell.
Rachel spends much of the novel trying to recall the events of the night Megan was murdered.
Megan’s perspective, starting about a year before Rachel’s into 2012, also juxtaposes the past and the present. While working as a nanny for Tom and Anna, Megan begins having an affair with Tom. After a year of sleeping together, Megan becomes pregnant with his child. Megan’s emotionally abusive husband, Scott, becomes physically abusive when she tells him about the affair.
Meanwhile, Anna offers a different perspective of the same time periods as Rachel. She thinks about her past as Tom’s mistress and how she stole him away from Rachel. However, motherhood is not what Anna expected, and Rachel’s continued presence in Tom’s life upsets Anna. She initially believes Rachel might have killed Megan and thinks Tom cheats on her with Rachel.
When Rachel tells Anna that Tom killed Megan, Anna sides with Tom, as he is holding their baby. Tom nearly kills Rachel, and Anna does not try to stop him. However, once he gives her the baby back, Anna prepares to call the police. Rachel, in self-defense, stabs Tom in the neck with a corkscrew. Anna ensures that the corkscrew goes in deep enough for him to die and then tells the authorities that Rachel killed Tom in self-defense.
The novel ends with Rachel, sober, taking a trip to the beach, as Megan had dreamed of doing, and traveling north on a train.
Rachel Watson : The main protagonist of the story, Rachel is a 33 - year old alcohilic, reeling from the end of her marriage to Tom, who left her for another woman after they discover that Rachel is incapable of bearing children.
She loses her job and frequently experiences blackouts. Taking advantage of her vulnerabilty, her husband misleads her into thinking that she harasses him.
While commuting, she observes diiferent people who live on the country-side, one of whom is Megan who is later murdered in the story. With adequate therapy and rehabilitation, Rachel regains most of her memories,
and solves the mystery behind Megan's death. She kills her ex-husband and Megan's killer as an act of defence.
Anna Watson nee Boyd : Anna is Tom's second wife. She has a daughter with him. She often feels guilty about breaking Rachel's relationship.
Initially, she suspects Rachel for murdering Megan, their babysitter but later finds out the truth. She aides Rachel in killing her husband.
Megan Hipwell : Megan is Scott's wife and babysitter of Anna and Tom's daughter. She has an extra-marital affair with Tom. She later becomes pregnant with Tom's child. She is murdered by Tom when she confronts him about the baby.
Paula Hawkins (born 26 August 1972) is a British author best known for her top-selling psychological thriller novel The Girl on the Train (2015), which deals with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse. Hawkins' second thriller novel, Into the Water, was released in 2017.
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