The Girl on the Train

Book eight of 2015 is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

This is also the fourth book I have completed this week so it is a bit of an overload but a pleasant one.

As someone who often avoids fiction about women who are struggling with their divorces, I took the chance with this book. A friend gave it to me to read and I refused the book with fear that it would trigger my own failings in this area. It did and it didn't. That would be because I'm mostly OK these days. The past does not break me.

It has been a while since I've read popular fiction executed so well. The journey of Rachel from crazy, drunken pathetic divorcee to... well, to who she finally is in the end is sad, tragic and touching. Not sure if I was ever happy for anyone in this book but because Hawkins writes so well, that was OK.

This is a mystery so I won't go ruining it for anyone.  I will say that I understand more about the main character and the voice of the woman who this whole murder mystery is about, than I care to admit. Where there is pain, we will seek to numb it but facing it is what makes us stronger.

For me, love is not always easy sailing but it isn't endless pain. The only exception to that is parents and children.

Four ex-men-in-your-life out of five.

Should I read this? Yes. It is a light an easy read because it is well written. The story keeps you engaged and it is deserving of its best seller status.
What did I learn? Love makes people look perfect when in fact, they are just people. Life makes people look messy when in fact, they are just people.