Rachel rides the train every day. And every day she passes the same homes and people going through their same routines. Until one day, something changes. What Rachel sees alters the trajectory of her life that is already complicated with a divorce and alcoholism.
Anna is a stay at home mom. Although her life seems simple, she lives in the shadow of her husband’s ex-wife, struggling with raising her two-year old daughter and keeping her sanity while trying to maintain a happy marriage.
Megan shouldn’t have a care in the world. She is free to work on her art and has a loving husband. Although she loves him too, for some reason that just isn’t enough for her. And when she goes missing, the lives of these three women converge.
Three women, three points of view, all telling the same story. Although I was able to guess the “whodunnit” aspect of the book (and I’m usually not great at that), I felt Hawkins put enough mystery and twists and turns to keep things intriguing and moving. While I didn’t particularly like her main characters (probably intentional on her part, though), I felt she made them interesting.
I would be remiss if I didn’t address one point. That’s the whole Gone Girl comparison. We have multiple narrators, a missing girl, diary-like entries, and unlikeable characters. So how do the two face off? IMHO The Girl on the Train edges out her competition. I didn’t have to press the “I want to believe button” like with Gone Girl and, in general, I was more engrossed in the story. While I wouldn’t say to skip Gone Girl, if you had a choice between the two, I’d go with The Girl on the Train.
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