Pubblicato in Italia con il titolo La Ragazza del Treno. Rachel prende in treno ogni giorno da Ashbury a Londra e dal suo finestrino osserva la vita delle persone. Immagina soprattutto la vita di una coppia che ogni mattina vede prendere il caffè nella loro casa. Ma una mattina vede una cosa che la disturba e qualche giorno dopo scopre che la donna è scomparsa. Rachel sa di avere importanti informazioni sul caso, ma la sua memoria è offuscata dall’alcol e Rachel non sembra più essere in grado di distinguere tra realtà e immaginazione.
Rachel Watson takes the train every day from Ashbury to London and every day the train stops at the same tract from which she sees the same couple going on about their daily routines. Rachel pretends to know the couple, that she has named Jason and Jess. She imagines what they do, what they like, and what they talk about. Then, after a night spent drinking and of which she has no recollection, Rachel finds out that Jess, whose real name is Megan, has disappeared. Rachel would like to help the police, but her memory of that night is blurry, although she knows that she saw something important that could help the police in finding Megan.
A year earlier, Megan is a lonely and suburbanite housewife. She suffers from anxiety and insomnia and she feels useless since she has closed her own gallery. She doesn’t know what to do with her life and even babysitting the neighbors’ baby makes her restless. Her husband Scott, although supportive, is not of much help. Going to a psychiatrist seems to help her, but what finally makes her really happy is the affair with a mysterious man.
While Megan’s life choices leads her down a dangerous path, Rachel’s search to find out the truth gives her a purpose and it seems to be what she needs to stop drinking. But will investigating Megan’s disappearance help Rachel? Or will she follow Megan’s dangerous path?
I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book that for months had been at the top of the bestseller charts. It was published two years ago, I saw people reading it on the train, at the beach, in the coffee shops. A movie came out starring Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux, and Luke Evans. I had it on my kindle for months and, yet, I put off reading it (I also went through a period during which
I was tired to read books with the word ‘girl’ in the title and where the main female character is a psychopathic. Thankfully, that period is over!). In the end, I finally caved in and I regret not doing it before because I finally saw why everyone was excited about this thriller. It is shocking, suspenseful, and beautifully written. I loved how, at some point or other, each single character seems guilty of Megan’s disappearance.
While I didn’t really like Megan, who I found selfish and self-centered (although at the end of the novel, I changed my initial opinion), I liked the character of Rachel. She is full of flaws and problems and she could be frustrating, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her and all I wanted to do was to shake her out of her alcoholism.
A memorable and gripping novel that I couldn’t put down and now all it’s left to do is to watch the movie!
