Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Rachel is a strange kind of narrator. She’s not entirely reliable, likable enough, but at the same time – pathetic. Her marriage disintegrated and she let herself loose, falling as low as a woman possibly can. Tom, the husband, married the mistress, they had a child together and still, Rachel was stubbornly drawn to man that wasn’t hers for years. She became an alcoholic, her behavior was erratic and borderline insane. Every day she rides the train to work she no loner has and daydreams about imaginary lives of families living along the train tracks. Rachel is the girl on the train, finding a form of comfort in the lives of strangers safe at home. Her overactive imagination leads her into a murder web. An interesting note about the other characters – they all are guilty of something – liars, adulterers, emotional abusers, obsessed… They are human, but they also are flawed, very much so…
Ultimately, The Girl on the Train is a first-class debut thriller, well-written, entertaining and keeping you guessing whodunit till the very last chapters.I would definitely be looking forward to the adaptation.
Overall: 4*
Tattered pages 