Paula Hawkins - Girl on the Train

review by show host May 2016.

This book was the most talked about book but problem is when a book is really hyped up your expectations soar.  So while I enjoyed reading the book it wasn't what I thought and having just read – ‘I let you go’ by Clare MacIntosh, this one paled a little in comparison.

The changing of dates stopped the flow as I kept going back and forwards to see what the day and date of previous chapter was.  The latter part of the book was a lot more tense and taut than the rest which was a slow build up.

The title says it all. Girl on train commuting to Euston looks in the gardens of houses she passes. Blenheim Road in particular interests her as she used to live at number 23 with her ex.  Down the road at number 17 is a couple who moved in after she left.  She often sees them in their garden, she names them in her mind, Jess & Jason.  They seem to have the loving relationship she craved with her ex.

Rachel has a drink problem, she drinks so much that she sometimes has black outs & can’t remember things.  She is also stalking her ex and his new wife & baby who still live in her old house.  She can’t get over the fact that Tom left her for Anna and had a baby with her and still live in the same house!

One day she sees Jess in the garden with another man, kissing each other.  She is furious to think that Jess is cheating on Jason, that she has burst the bubble of their perfect relationship in her
imagination.

She decides she must confront her.  But later the body of ‘Jess’ (who we discover is called Megan) is found dead in nearby woods.  Rachel can’t remember anything but she goes back to her shared flat with injuries on her head and arms.  The husband is a prime suspect but Rachel is sure it must be the man whom Megan was cheating with.
And so the tension builds (but more towards the latter part of the book) as Rachel starts to bit by bit, recover some memory and the truth is revealed.