The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins | Summary & Analysis

By IRB Media

This companion to The Girl on Train includes:

• Summary of the book

• Character Analysis

• A Discussion on Themes

• And much more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781943427673

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

The Girl on the Train

A Novel

by

Paula Hawkins

Summary & Analysis

Table of Contents

| Summary |      3

Main Characters      10

| Analysis |      12

Character Analysis      12

Character Relationships      15

Themes      19

Author’s Style      28

| Summary |

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is a psychological thriller that tells the story of three women and how their lives intersect.

Rachel Watson is an alcoholic. Rachel often drinks to excess and experiences blackouts. She was fired from her job because of her drinking. Afraid to tell Cathy, her roommate, the truth, Rachel continues to take the train from Ashbury to Euston each workday morning and back again, as if she were still employed. She likes riding the trains. While on her twice daily trip, she often imagines what the lives of the people the train passes are like. She watches one particular couple along her route who happen to live four doors down from Rachel’s ex-husband, Tom, his new wife, Anna, and their baby girl.

Megan is the name of the woman Rachel watches. A year earlier, Megan began suffering from panic attacks and insomnia. Her husband, Scott, talked her into seeing a therapist with the hope that it might help her. Megan told her therapist, Dr. Kamal Abdic, about her relationship with Scott. Dr. Abdic suggested Scott was an emotional abuser.

Megan began an affair with Dr. Abdic. He told her their affair was