The Girl on the Train - March 2015 Book club

I really enjoyed reading The Girl on the Train as psychological thrillers seem to have gone out of fashion in favour of character led police whodunnits.

Paula, I'd like to ask if any particular authors have influenced your writing and will your next book be in the same genre?

Thank you for my copy - I thought it a terrific read. My question sort of echoes others in that it's about the fact that none of the characters were very likeable. I wondered were you tempted to make Anna nicer? Certainly my first impressions of her were very good but they became progressively less so

Another who loved the book. I thought the character of Rachel was especially well-drawn. One was almost sucked into her hopelessness (which became quite understandable towards the end of the book). I wondered if anyone close to you had been through similar struggles with alcohol which maybe helped you shape her so well

I'm on holiday in Malta and have just finished the book. I LOVED IT! It was a page turner and kept me guessing right to the end. I hope the author writes many more books. I'm leaving my copy in the hotel so some other lucky reader can find it and enjoy!

I came home yesterday, having been away for a week, and discovered the postman had left me a lovely book. Thank you Gransnet.

Am currently reading the book and thoroughly enjoying it. The only thing is I am struggling to keep up with the dates on each chapter and am hoping all will become clear once I am further into the story.

I enjoyed the book very much after the initial effort of placing the characters and the plot in the different time zones. I felt some sympathy for Rachel who became a victim of her own weaknesses but was determined to fight her battles and regain some dignity.
I could easily see this becoming a successful film, if so which actors would Paula like to see as the main characters?
I would also like to ask if Paula has another book in progress and if so is it in the same genre?

Ana, I meant if someone from a train saw what happened they may have seen the real version and not the version Anna and Rachel gave to the police, then if they read in in the newspaper they would know that wasn't what they say. Sorry if this sounds complicated I don't want to give anything away.

No, I knew what you meant, annemac, but I don't think they could have seen, from the train, who attacked who first and with what.

They certainly couldn't have made out that Anna wasn't actually the ministering angel she claimed to have been, so IMO there'd be no mileage in a sequel based on someone trying to blackmail either of the two women.

Well I have struggled a bit with this book - keeping the characters and time shifts clear has been difficult for me. My question for Paula is did she write it in the order the book is in and if so did she find it difficult to remember where she was?

I would have expected her to have a chart plotting it out to keep tabs on who and when! Did you do that Paula?

Having read the reviews I was looking forward to this, but it was a slow burn and not the page turner I expected. I found it predicable and disappointing in the end.

Have you seen an event that disturbed YOU when travelling by train Paula?

One of the reasons I loved this books is because I have always been a compulsive imaginer about people I see from trains. Many years ago I used to commute into town and every day would see a small red haired girl on the balcony of a block of dilapidated flats. I made up a whole life for her and over 30 years later do wonder how things really turned out for her. Are you the same Paula and is this what got you thinking?

Loved the book and am now much more aware of people's gardens when travelling by train. Didn't really warm to any of the main characters.

Quite liked the red-haired man on the train.Couldn't he and Rachel have got together ?

Did anyone else not notice there was a varying timeline until they were well into the book? I don't think it mattered.

Thank you for The Girl on the Train which I can't put down - will write more when I have finished!

Many thanks for the free book...I didn't take long to read it.
When I was into the first few pages I thought this isn't for me..but kept on as I knew I couldn't write about it until I had completed it.
I found the diary part a bit annoying as I had to go back and forth.
But got to the state where I had to finish it all as I wanted to know who had done it and why?
I wasn't keen on all the "F"words near the end I felt there were other words that could have been used.
The story line was good and it was a very interesting read otherwise.
Many thanks for sending it to me.

Tried several times to get into this book. I'm obviously not on the same wavelength as the author!

My copy has arrived, but it came without a note in it. So was curious who had sent it. However, I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is an intriguing read and I can't put it down!!!

I really enjoyed the book, thank you very much. There ws no nte in my copy either.

The Girl On The Train is A great psychological thriller.I had sympathy with Rachel and some with Megan but hated Anna. Did you intent to affect the reader in this way?

You described the feelings of marital betrayal in Rachel's story so acutely, and also the loss of a child for Megan, that I wondered whether you have been affected personally by either of these difficult events? What was the inspiration for their stories?

Initially I found the format skipping timelines difficult but it was an effective way of writing from different viewpoints.

I loved the book, despite finding Rachel annoying!
My question has already been asked, but I would also like to know will you have any say in the choice of actors for the film?

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was a Gransnet book of the month.

A railway line runs past houses and trains regularly stop or slow at a signal. From the front, the houses look impersonal, but from the train the backs look private and personal. The girl on the train, Rachel, is a regular commuter and always looks out, when it stops, to the house where she used to live and the neighbouring house where she often sees a couple in the garden.

Rachel’s ex husband, Tom, lives in “her” house with his new wife, Anna, and child. She fantasises about the couple living nearby, seeing them as a perfect, happy couple and calls them Jason and Jess. One day she glimpses something that makes her doubt that view. One day she learns that Jess is Megan, and she has disappeared, later found murdered.

The story is about who murdered her, and is written with the voice of the three women; Rachel, Anna and Megan. Could Rachel be responsible? She is depressed and an alcoholic and has black holes in her memory when she is drunk. She frequents the street where she used to live, but can’t remember anything. Megan used to baby sit for Anna, but left suddenly. Anna is fiercely protective of her child, and upset by Rachel’s visits to the street.

Other candidates are Scott, Megan’s husband. Supportive and loving, but not aware of Megan’s past, and present secrets. Tom, Anna’s husband, and Rachel’s ex is charming and loving on the surface, but that hides a manipulative and deceitful nature. The other candidate is Megans therapist who might have a reason to wish her ill.

We are left wondering throughout the book – who is the killer. We need to read without stopping to see how it ends!

I like the way the characters are portrayed. Rachel feels detached from life because of her depression, and unsure whether memories are real or imagined because of her drinking. Megan has a hole in the middle of her soul because of events in the past. It makes her feel restless and unsettled. Anna hates living in the house that was occupied by Rachel, and desperately wants to be happy with Tom and the baby.

If I had one question to ask the author, it would be how much of the book is from experience, how much from research and how much from imagination.

Really enjoyed this book and found the idea of fantasising about the lives of those glimpsed from a train fascinating . The characters were well defined and believable in the main and the descriptions of alcoholism and the reasons behind it were heart wrenching. I would like to ask Paula how she set about the research for this character.

Read this at my book club, it was the first book for a long time which everyone enjoyed. Great read.

I did enjoy reading this book and have actually recommended it for a friend's book group, but, as others have said, every female character has defined herself almost exclusively through her relationships with men and none of the characters were likeable. To be honest I guessed who the killer was fairly early on, but I didn't really care.