The Girl on the Train: Rachel: One Summary & Analysis

Friday, July 5, 2013. As Rachel Watson rides the morning train into London, she spots a pile of clothes by the tracks, which disturbs her. Her ex-husband Tom always told her she had an “overactive imagination”—with that in mind, Rachel tries to calm herself as the 8:04 train from the suburb of Ashbury to Euston Station in London picks up speed. In spite of the rickety tracks, Rachel loves riding the train: twice a day, she gets to watch the houses go by and get a glimpse into other people’s lives.

That evening, on the train back to Ashbury, Rachel opens a canned gin and tonic. As she takes her first sip, she lets the taste transport her back into memories of her first-ever vacation with Tom, when they went to Spain. Rachel polishes off the gin and tonic quickly, but she’s not worried—she has three more. “TGIF,” Rachel thinks to herself ironically. It is a Friday—yet in spite of the beautiful weather forecasted for the weekend, Rachel’s only plan is to drink in order to fill the empty 48 hours ahead of her.

Monday, July 8, 2013. Rachel is back on the 8:04—but she wishes that rather than going into London, she could stay in the comfortable train seat all day. About halfway through her journey each day, there is a signal stop on the line, and the train comes to a halt. If Rachel sits in the right seat of the right carriage, she can catch a long glimpse of her favorite house, number 15 Blenheim Road in Witney. Number 15 is a two-story Victorian overlooking a garden. Rachel has named the occupants of the house, whom she sometimes spies from the tracks, “Jason” and “Jess.” Jason and Jess are a “golden” couple: Jason is dark-haired and handsome. Jess is tiny, pale, and blond. Jess is often out on the deck in the mornings—but this morning, she is not, and Rachel imagines all the places she could be. 

That evening, on the train back to Ashbury, Rachel opens a bottle of wine and pours it into a plastic cup. She recognizes some other frequent commuters on the train and hopes they aren’t judging her for drinking on a weeknight. As the train rattles along, Rachel waits to catch a glimpse of Jason and Jess once again—but neither of them is on the deck or in the garden. Rachel cannot remember the last time she had meaningful contact with another person.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Rachel notices that the pile of clothes from last week is still lying on the tracks; she remembers reading somewhere that being hit by a train can rip one’s clothes off. At the signal stop, Rachel sees Jess standing on the patio. Rachel recalls when she herself used to live on Blenheim Road—a few doors down, at number 23. Rachel tries very hard not to look at number 23 during the daily stoppages—catching sight of her ex-husband’s new wife, Anna, watering the roses or taking care of her new baby fills Rachel with pain.

That evening, on the 5:56 back to Ashbury—a slower train than the morning one—Rachel dreads returning home. Rachel is a lodger, or sub-letter, who lives with a very kind friend from university named Cathy. The two of them are not very close—yet Rachel has been living in Cathy’s flat for two years. In spite of how long she’s lived there, Rachel still feels like a guest in someone else’s home. She feels she has lost control not just of her physical circumstances but of the “places in [her] head” as well.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is a stifling hot morning on the train. Rachel looks out the window for Jason or Jess during the signal stop, but she cannot see either of them. She wonders what the two of them do for work—Jason, she surmises, could be a doctor. The boldly dressed Jess, she believes, is some kind of stylist or artist or photographer. Jason and Jess, Rachel feels, are everything she lost—and everything she wants to be.

That evening, Rachel is sweaty and uncomfortable as she rides the train home. She anxiously watches an expensively dressed man sitting across from her type on his computer. When he looks at her, she senses distaste in his face. Rachel knows she is not a “desirable” woman like she used to be: she has gained weight, and her face has grown puffy from drinking. One night recently, she overheard Cathy and Cathy’s boyfriend Damien discussing the possibility of trying to set Rachel up with a friend of theirs—Damien, however, said he didn’t know anyone who would be “desperate” enough to go out with Rachel.

Thursday, July 11, 2013. On the morning train, Rachel picks at a bandage on her finger. Last night, after drinking a bottle of wine, she cut herself while trying to cook dinner. After cutting her finger, Rachel went upstairs to tend to the wound—but she fell asleep and left the uncooked meal downstairs to rot. When Cathy and Damien came home, Cathy asked Rachel to clean up the kitchen, which was covered in blood. After doing so, Rachel drank another full bottle of wine and fell asleep. This morning, her phone tells her that last night she called Tom four times over the course of the night—but she doesn’t remember what she said in the messages she left him.

As the train comes to the signal, Rachel spots Jess on the patio and notices that Jess seems sad. Rachel waits for Jason to emerge onto the patio, but he does not come outside. Rachel wills herself not to look toward number 23—but she cannot stop herself. She can’t see inside the house, but she imagines Anna playing with her baby, washing up, and cooking breakfast. Rachel closes her eyes and remembers the message she left for Tom last night: she told him that she still loved him. Rachel knows she is going to feel terrible all day, yet she is comforted by the fact that this is not the worst thing she’s done while drunk. In the past, Rachel acted out in public, hit the walls of her house with a golf club, and got fired from work after getting too drunk during lunch with a client.

That night, on the train home, Rachel finds that she has been unable to stop thinking about Jess all day. She wonders why Jess looked so lonely this morning—and where Jason could have been. She imagines what they must be like together and all the different ways in which they might take care of each other. Rachel’s phone rings. Startled, she answers it—and finds Tom is on the other end. Tom asks Rachel to stop calling him. In a concerned voice, he urges her to get herself together and go to some AA meetings. Rachel hangs up the phone without saying a word. She pulls the bandage off her finger and presses her thumbnail into the wound as two young girls watch in horror.