Taking a Thrill Ride with The Girl on the Train

I had fully planned to kick off this book club with some talk about the sweet bliss of reading in the early spring–you know, when you might be able to snag a few moments outside on a sunny porch with a book while the fresh air breezes about? Heavenly.

Instead, here in Pennsylvania, apparently winter didn’t get the memo. As I called Carrie of Normal Level of Crazy to plan our next meeting, we started the conversation off with a whole lot of, “What the crap is this weather?! SERIOUSLY.” And that’s basically the gist of every single conversation I’ve had for the past month as the cold refuses to take its leave…

While I hold out hope that summer remains an existing season in this world, I am comforted by my late-night cozying up under the cover with some good reads. If the chill has to stick, at least we can spend our hours wisely, right?

I’m stoked to chat up this month’s pick with you, The Girl on the Train. This book was reminiscent of a few of my favorite books I’ve read this past year: Gone Girl, The Silent Wife and What Alice Forgot. It has that spooky thriller element of the unknown coupled with a harsh realism of where our lives can take us. While the extremes the characters allow themselves to fall into are less relatable, I appreciated the truth that pain can take on a tremendous boldness in our lives. There was no mincing of hurt, and this was oddly comforting as the pages of this mystery flew through my fingertips.

The Girl on the Train kept you guessing until the end; neither Carrie nor I sorted the murder until it was revealed. Did you? This book was an engaging, compelling read and I would be shocked if we don’t see this in the theaters before too long!

Looking for a new captivating book? Grab this one and read with us!

Have you read it? Share your thoughts and questions below! And I’ve pulled a few book discussion questions from the publisher to help guide our conversation. Remember, the primary goal of this virtual book club is just to read with other people–there are no right or wrong comments–we just like knowing there are other people sneaking away in the corners of potty-training and school pick-ups with us.

1. How would you have reacted if you’d seen what Rachel did from her train window—a pile of clothes—just before the rumored disappearance of Megan Hipwell? What might you or she have done differently
2. In both Rachel Watson’s and Megan Hipwell’s marriages, deep secrets are kept from the husbands. Are these marriages unusual or even extreme in this way? Consider how many relationships rely on half-truths? Is it ever necessary or justifiable to lie to someone you love? How much is too much to hide from a partner?
3. One of Rachel’s deepest disappointments, it turns out, is that she can’t have children. Her ex-husband Tom’s second wife Anna is the mother to a young child, Evie. How does Rachel’s inability to conceive precipitate her breakdown? How does the topic of motherhood drive the plot of the story? What do you think Paula Hawkins was trying to say about the ways motherhood can define women’s lives or what we expect from women’s domestic lives, whether as wives, mothers, or unmarried women in general?
4. Other characters in the novel make different assumptions about Rachel Watson depending on how or even where they see her. To a certain extent, she understands this and often tries to manipulate their assumptions—by appearing to be a commuter, for instance, going to work every day. Is she successful? To what degree did you make assumptions about Rachel early on based on the facts and appearances you were presented?

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After you’ve chimed in on The Girl on the Train, make tracks to snag your copy of our next month’s pick, The Dovekeepers.  I won’t lie, I’ve been more than a little out of it this past month, so when Carrie asked me if I’d heard about this book and the new TV series being made, I was clueless. But when she filled me in on the premise, I was beyond intrigued. And that was so four days ago. I now have the novel waiting expectantly on my nightstand and cannot wait to dig in.

And you can score a copy for free here! Just leave a comment on this post telling us you’d like to read the book before 4/10/15 at 5:30am ET. As long as you are 18 or older and live in the continental U.S., you are eligible to win. One reader will be randomly chosen from the comments to receive a free copy of The Dovekeepers.

Snatch up this fascinating read now!

As described on Amazon:

“Alice Hoffman’s bestselling, spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women in Masada in 70 A.D. will be a four-hour miniseries airing on CBS and produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, the married team behind the History Channel’s Emmy Award–winning The Bible and Fox’s feature film Son of God.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path.

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love. The Dovekeepers is Alice Hoffman’s masterpiece.”

One of my favorite things about reading is being taken to a place or time I would never otherwise go–and this novel promises to do exactly this. Hop in with us, readers. Snatch up a copy of The Dovekeepers now and let’s see what this is all about!

Happy Spring reading!

****Thank you to Scribner Paperback for providing us with a copy of The Dovekeepers to give to one of our readers. Our excitement to read this book is 100% original.****

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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