Although it is labeled as a “psychological thrill,” what I was interested in was the way Hawkins depicted Rachel. Rachel, who was divorced for over 2 years, was still emotionally attached to her ex-husband. She couldn’t let go; and she couldn’t accept the fact that they are no longer in a relationship. The thought of her needing him destroyed her life completely; she lost her job and was still pretending everyday that she goes to her job! She was also living in a small room in her friend’s apartment who agreed to house her out of pity. Rachel lost also her health , being an alcoholic.

It is scary how one’s life could turn into void because of a relationship. It is disastrous when one refuses to accept reality and instead retreats into hiding or worse clings to false hopes. Rachel not only did all that, but she also accepted to humiliate herself to only enjoy few moments of phone calls with her ex. Rachel was a complete wreck. She was luckless and futureless. All this makes her obsessed with Megan and Scott, the couple living next door to her ex. For her, they were the perfect couple, the couple she believed she will be when her ex gets her back.

I was reading this thrill and honestly hardly concerned with the identity of the killer, all I wanted to know was ” is Rachel gonna wake up and realize what she is doing to herself or not?”. Rachel represents the darkest/worst scenario of relationship-ending. She was legally divorced, but psychologically married! It is common that one partner would be attached for months to his or her ex, but in Rachel’s case it was TWO YEARS. There are many reasons for this kind of denial, and I believe in Rachel’s case it was the “baby issue.” Her ex was married with a child, while she was left alone and childless. On top of that she lost him because –as he claimed- she lost herself because of her attempts to get pregnant. All this leads to the psychological destruction of Rachel.

Hawkins brilliantly portrays this struggle and weaved a story in which she immerses the reader completely. Reading “The Girl on the Train” you don’t read only a book about a crime, but a book about characters who struggle on many levels…. about characters affected by their past. Rachel, Megan and Anna were inflicted forever – though differently- because of a child. Hawkins shows us that topics as having a child, abortion, pregnancy troubles, etc, are no easy topics. Many think women could go over them, but people are not the same; some would be utterly changed by this experience. I feel sorry for those who is going to watch the movie based on this book without reading the book first as I’m sure they will lose the chance to get to know these characters

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I think the cover of the book, where letters have outer reflections, echoes Rachel’s distorted reality …the line between what is happening and what is she thinks happening is blurred

Totally recommended.