Life...The Vivere

ARTFUL READERS BOOK REVIEW

"THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN" by Paula Hawkins

May 29, 2015 

Released as her debut novel in early January of this year, GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins has been on the best seller list ever since! It literally roared out of the station debuting in the #1 spot!! I'm still trying to figure out how it got to the top. For me, it was about depressing people, depressing lives, depressing relationships... it's told from multiple points of view, not easily defined, has lots of time shifts and is somewhat monotonous...this is me being kind! It took me FOREVER to finish...it's hard for me to give up on a book, but I should have!

What drew me in was the aspect of viewing life from the window of a train...the imagining of people's lives from this distant, brief view and observing small, day to day changes. 

The girl on the train is Rachel, a lonely, alcoholic divorcee who rides the train to and from London every day, hoping to keep everyone from knowing she'd been fired from her job. The train passes by the house where she once lived with her much loved (now ex) husband... he still lives there with his new wife (for whom he left Rachel) and their small child. That same stretch of suburban homes includes Rachel's view of  another unknown couple, just a few houses away, whom she sees eating on their deck. Since she sees them each day, she feels she knows them and imagines what their life together is like...it seems perfect. Until, one day, she sees something shocking. It's only a brief glimpse before the train moves on, but she feels it's enough for her to involve herself in their lives. From here, the mystery begins...not enough to be a page turner, but is a bit of a puzzle.

This book has been hyped to the max...I can't understand why! Perhaps it's for you...but it definitely didn't blow my whistle!! 

This is a review for an ART and SOLE blog and the ARTFUL READER'S CLUB started by Darcy Wilkinson. Check out the group on Facebook for more reviews of a variety of books.