The Girl on the Train, book review (Paula Hawkins)

I am not the sort of reader who runs out and purchases the latest must have, must read, Richard & Judy recommended, if you're not reading this like everyone else is right now, then what the hell are you doing, sort of book; so this review might be a bit late for some, but with the film release last week, I thought it was probably the right time to get it out there.

As many of you already know, I read all sorts, (and why not, I say), with most of my books coming from charity shops, but I have a confession to make. I pilfered this one from my mother whilst her back was turned, in the shameful attempt at being able to converse in the pub, (or equivalent) if the topic of the film came up. (Which in spite of its Americanisation, I'm still looking forward to seeing).

So, what did I find in the three hundred or so pages of Paula Hawkins' bestselling thriller? Quite a lot actually.

There is a love triangle of sorts: Ex-wife who drinks too much, harasses ex-husband and new wife, (who now have the baby that she couldn't have).

Ex-wife then loses her job, keeps drinking, keeps getting the train every morning, in order to keep the fact that she's lost her job from her flatmate, and makes up little fantasy worlds in her head, about the people she sees, including a couple who's garden backs the railway where the train stops each morning, which is also, only a few doors down the road from her old house, where her ex-husband and new family still live.

It's all a bit screwed up then? Well, you'd think so wouldn't you, but then the girl a few doors up goes missing and the shit really hits the fan.

I like this story, it's told in the first person, by three different women, over two time lines, (hold on a minute, Girls on Fire, anyone? See my blog post from 25th July), and hops about a bit, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

We find out from the missing girl that she was seeing a therapist the year before, who then becomes a suspect, all whilst the tension between the ex and the current wife builds.

The main character has major memory lapses due to her drinking, but over time, and with a little detective work, (she's unemployed remember), things start coming back to her, pieces of the puzzle start slotting into place and then, the truth!

Criticisms: It’s a bit hard to accept that out of the three women in the book, one is an alcoholic, one needs a therapist and the new wife is prepared to 'sort the ex out' (read into that what you will), and (spoiler alert) the ex-husband is a serial adulterer and maybe a lot more!!! 
Where may I ask, are all the normal people?

That aside, it is a good read, so grab a copy quickly, because the film came out on the 5th October, (UK release), and looks riveting.

Can't wait for the next big, you must read this because it's in every shop window in the world book, by Paula Hawkins.

The Time Traveler's Wife. (Audrey Niffenegger)

A tough one this.

I'd been looking forward to reading this book for a while, waiting for a copy to come up in my local charity bookshop, but now I've read it, I'm torn between loving and loathing it. 

The loving part is easy: good characters, nicely written, fast paced, and that lovely trick that time travel likes to pull off every now and again, the ability to create excuses for things that would never happen in real life.
Okay, so now the loathing: Claire sleeping with Gomez. WHAT!
We've been led to believe that a girl, who meets a man when she's just six years old and then waits her entire life, going through high school, university and all the other stuff you do when you're young free and single, without any sexual partners, only for her to fall into bed with a guy she's know for years, who happens to be married to her best friend. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Then Henry loses his feet to frostbite.
Where the hell did that come from?
I'd watched the film first, (not always a good idea) so it came as a bit of a shock, but losing your feet to frostbite in this day and age!
Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seemed like a lame (pardon the pun) way of debilitating the man when he could so easily have broken his legs, of maybe lost a leg in an accident. Something, anything but losing your feet to frostbite. Weird.
In conclusion, I did like this book and with a few provisos I would encourage others to read it, just don't expect a happy ending; in literary or story terms.