Books & Literature

Audiobook Review: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

A delusional alcoholic fantasises about a couple she sees through the train window every day until the woman goes missing and she becomes a potential witness.

Like Paula Hawkins’ excellent novel, the audiobook of The Girl on the Train offers three narrators, providing the viewpoint of three unreliable storytellers that evolve this fascinating murder mystery.

Clare Corbett portrays Rachel, the girl on the train who is a divorced and delusional alcoholic fantasising about the lives of the people she watches each day from the train. All the while, she refuses to relinquish her past feelings for her ex-husband. She rides the train to and from London each day just so her flatmate won’t know she was fired from her job.

In particular, Rachel is obsessed with “Jess and Jason”, a couple she watches each day as the train pauses at the red signal behind their house. They live just a few doors down from where Rachel once lived with her husband, Tom, whose house she can also see as a constant reminder of her loss. Rachel romanticises the life of Jess and Jason until she witnesses something that will draw her into the mystery of Jess’ sudden disappearance soon after. Her skewed view of the world, lost memories from alcoholic stupors, and fixation with her ex-husband makes Rachel an unreliable and unwelcomed witness in the investigation but her determination to discover the truth drives her deeper into the mystery.

After being wowed by Corbett’s reading of Fiona Barton’s The Widow earlier this year, she does not disappoint here either, providing a profound and often heartbreaking peek into the heart and motivations of Rachel. The character is achingly realised by both Hawkins and Corbett, driving the narrative, confusing the issue, and drawing us into her muddled reality.

Louise Brealey plays Megan, the “Jess” of Rachel’s fantasy, whose husband, Scott, is controlling. Her narration takes place before her disappearance, out of sync with the rest of the story but leading up to the big reveal that merges the viewpoints of all three narrators. Megan is a sexual predator and cheat with a tragic past that she keeps secret despite it haunting her even today.

Brealey is marvellous as Megan, taking a lost soul who is her own worst enemy and creating another profoundly tragic but relatable character, even when Megan’s actions are reprehensible.

Rounding out the cast is the ever-reliable India Fisher, narrating as Anna, Tom’s new wife. She’s pretentious, manipulative and afraid, which is a dangerous combination. Anna’s insecurities stem not only from Rachel’s obsession with her ex-husband, but from the fact that she had been ‘the other woman’ while Tom was married to Rachel.

India Fisher is an experienced audiobook narrator who has also been a regular companion of the eighth Doctor in Big Finish productions of official Doctor Who audio dramas. She has a very distinct voice and diction but when given the right role, she excels. This is one such example. Fisher presents a stressed and dislikeable mother driven by the need to protect her family.

Between Corbett, Brealey and Fisher, The Girl on the Train is compulsive listening. Paula Hawkins’ mystery is beautifully developed, with the flawed narrators making it refreshing and fascinating. It’s a gripping mystery/thriller that is hard to pause, reaching its full potential through the cast of this stellar 11-hour audiobook.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10:  9

Released by: Random House Audio and also available through audible.com.au
Release date: January 2015

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