This latest novel of Paula Hawkins, I enjoyed much more. She seems to have moved on from the Gone Girl style of novel of her first to something more complex, more careful in its plotting, more interesting and diverse characters, a very slow burn as indicated in the title. I don't know much about how writers grow and develop from book to book, but for me, she has definitely upped her game with the quality of the writing in this novel.
The beginning of the novel introduces us to a diverse range of characters who at first seem completely disconnected to each other. But like all slow burns, bit by bit, the links between the characters become apparent. Daniel lives on a rundown boat tied up on the canal. Next to his boat, lives Miriam on her immaculate well cared for boat. Miriam is a writer who has a major beef with successful author Theo, whom Miriam accuses of plagiarism, stealing an autobiographical account of a traumatic event when Miriam was a teenager. Theo is married to Carla who is Daniel's aunt, still reeling and mourning the death of her sister Angela, Daniel's mother. Irene is an elderly lady who lives next door to Carla, and hears a lot through the paper thin walls. Then there is Laura. Your heart aches for this young woman struggling to make a life for herself. She too has been though some awful traumas, and finds herself in more trouble when Daniel is found murdered in his canal boat.
You can see it is already a bit of a mess, or going to become a mess. I loved how it slowly unravelled, how the relationships between the characters unwound - because, in effect, the story is told in reverse- we begin with Daniel's murder, and then rewind through the days, weeks, months, years to the why of all this. And I fully expect this to become a movie or series too.
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