“Drunk Rachel sees no consequences, she is either excessively expansive and optimistic or wrapped up in hate. She has no past, no future. She exists purely in the moment.”
Rachel Watson
commutes to work on the train every day into London, except she is not on her
way to work; Rachel is a hard-core alcoholic, fired for her drunkenness.
Reeling from her divorce to ex Tom, she begins
lying to her roommate and travels daily on the train as a disguise. Really, she
enjoys passing her old home on the way into London, obsessing over Tom who lives in her old home with his new thinner beau Anna and child. Prone
to blacking out, Rachel becomes a pathetic mess, constantly putting herself
down in this downward spiral she creates for herself. The drinking becomes
endless as she becomes addicted to summoning Tom, leaving messages and begging
him nightly to love her again. Her physical appearance is unusual of a lead
character; an overweight drunk who vomits all over her home with no self-control
may turn readers to feels repulsed.
“I am not the girl I used to be. I am no longer desirable; I’m off-putting in some way. It’s not just that I’ve put on weight, or that my face is puffy from the drinking and the lack of sleep; it’s as if people can see the damage written all over me, can see it in my face, the way I hold myself, the way I move.”
“I am not the girl I used to be. I am no longer desirable; I’m off-putting in some way. It’s not just that I’ve put on weight, or that my face is puffy from the drinking and the lack of sleep; it’s as if people can see the damage written all over me, can see it in my face, the way I hold myself, the way I move.”
Rachel’s
possessive personality is portrayed as testy as she rapidly becomes fixated on
another young couple who live on Toms street and whose garden overlooks the train
tracks. She lovingly renames them Jess and Jason and soon their allure becomes
undeniable beckoning her to keep a close eye, creating soap operas in her mind
based on their normal lives. Once she reads in the paper one day that Jess
(real name Megan) has vanished and is then found out to be killed, Rachel feels
an overwhelming urge to inform the police that Jason (real name Scott) would
never harm her and that she is sure she spotted Jess with another man on the
day of her disappearance. But this backfires. Rachel’s drunken blackouts
prevent her from remembering anything. She realizes she actually left the
train on the night of the disappearance to go and see Tom, blacked out and
cannot remember anything of that night.
In comparison to Rachel, Megan Hipwell is a highly puzzling character. Blonde, beautiful and glamorous with a gorgeous husband she is dreadfully endearing, yet the entire praise protagonist Rachel unknowingly gives her is torn down by Megan herself. She is a selfish cheater, bored with her life and spends her time hurting those around her for her own self pleasure. “I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept in days. I hate this, hate insomnia more than anything, just lying there, brain going round, tick, tick, tick, tick. I itch all over. I want to shave my head.” Megan has menacing anxiety problems coupled with an incredibly dark past, the twist approaching when she applies to become a babysitter for Tom’s baby out of boredom, eventually leading to major trouble. Megan also begins attending therapy sessions to deal with her issues and unknowingly encouraged by her husband Scott, falls for her therapist Kamal. Soon, Rachel’s obsession goes even further than watching Megan and Scott whilst on the train. During the investigation she causes massive ripples she cannot take back quickly. Her blurry memory is fruitless in turn making her doubt conclusions, losing confidence in her sightings. Once she becomes dismissed by the police due to her inconsistent theories, Scott, Tom and Anna now become integral characters to the murder.
In comparison to Rachel, Megan Hipwell is a highly puzzling character. Blonde, beautiful and glamorous with a gorgeous husband she is dreadfully endearing, yet the entire praise protagonist Rachel unknowingly gives her is torn down by Megan herself. She is a selfish cheater, bored with her life and spends her time hurting those around her for her own self pleasure. “I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept in days. I hate this, hate insomnia more than anything, just lying there, brain going round, tick, tick, tick, tick. I itch all over. I want to shave my head.” Megan has menacing anxiety problems coupled with an incredibly dark past, the twist approaching when she applies to become a babysitter for Tom’s baby out of boredom, eventually leading to major trouble. Megan also begins attending therapy sessions to deal with her issues and unknowingly encouraged by her husband Scott, falls for her therapist Kamal. Soon, Rachel’s obsession goes even further than watching Megan and Scott whilst on the train. During the investigation she causes massive ripples she cannot take back quickly. Her blurry memory is fruitless in turn making her doubt conclusions, losing confidence in her sightings. Once she becomes dismissed by the police due to her inconsistent theories, Scott, Tom and Anna now become integral characters to the murder.
‘‘I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.”
Hawkins juggles
an incredibly intriguing web of complex characters with an attention-grabbing
murder story throughout. This chilling psychological thriller is a must read
due to its temperament. Hawkins is able to evoke sympathy for Rachel, an
unusual character who does more wrong than right as well as Megan, a
misunderstood woman with a dark past. The twists in this novel are ingenious
and unending and sure to shock readers.
