Unreliable narrators make for page turners

Regular readers know that most of my posts speak to the suitability of the book for group discussion. In the case of the three books here, The Widow, Gone Girl, and The Girl on the Train, the literary device seems the most interesting subject for conversation.

After the author, the second most important player in most books is the narrator. Often that key role is overlooked as s/he/it lays out the setting, describes the characters and moves the plot along. At the author’s discretion, the narrator may discern the inner thoughts of the characters or view the goings-on as if from above.  When a novel is told in the first person that world is seen only through his or her eyes. At times, multiple characters are responsible for providing vastly different perspectives.

In the last few years a number of very popular novels have been written using an unreliable narrator or narrators. Each novel begins with a seemingly normal situation that quickly goes awry. If you are a film lover, the master of the genre was Alfred Hitchcock.

Two weeks ago the latest addition to the literary subgenre was published. Fiona Barton’s The Widow opens shortly after an accused child kidnapper was killed by a bus. Told from the perspectives of the widow, the mother of the missing child, the detective and a reporter, the story jumps forward from the death and back to the kidnapping and subsequent investigation. There is a measure of desperation in each of the narrators – the detective’s career was hard hit as the kidnapping remained unsolved, the mother’s capability, love and morality were questioned, the reporter is in search of that career-making scoop. The undercurrents of the widow’s life bring added tension to the story.

In Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl a young wife goes missing on her fifth anniversary. Nick and Amy appear so happy. As the backstory unfolds, it becomes apparent that life is not all it seems. With each chapter, questions quickly arise about Nick’s veracity. He isn’t telling the whole truth.  Using Amy’s diary, her perspective on the marriage and her intentions are brought out bit by bit. At each turn, the reader wonders who, if anyone, is really being truthful and how far out of control the characters and story will spiral. Flynn set a new bar for dark stories of domestic life.  Her writing is terrifyingly brilliant and I’m not sure I’d want to have her at my dinner table!

Last winter The Girl on the Train was touted as the successor to Gone Girl. Paula Hawkins main character is a woman whose life is out of control. Rachel travels on the same train daily, observing the changing patterns of those who live in the neighborhood along the tracks. When she sees a crime, she reports it.   Drinking too much, out of a job, and hiding the truth of her situation from family and friends, Rachel’s credibility is immediately suspect. Connections to some of those under suspicion further call her judgment into question. Rachel, too, wonders at times if her memory is accurate. While she lies to others and to herself about her circumstances, Rachel is sincere in her interest in seeing the truth uncovered.  In the next few months, The Girl on the Train will open in movie theaters. In the film version the story is moved from Britain to the US but little else is changed.

Given the publicity and popularity surrounding the release of each of these titles, expect to see more novels of this type in the months ahead.

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