One of the most popular novels of the last few years has been “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins. The publishing cycle has been speeding up. It used to be that the paperback version of a typical hardcover release would come out a year after the original book. Now it isn’t uncommon for the paperback to follow much more quickly.
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Unless your book is “The Girl on the Train” and it is selling like mad. The paperback finally came out in July, 17 months after the original publication. That book featured a rather unreliable narrator, the “girl on the train.” She had a drinking problem. This trend of mysteries written by women from the United Kingdom which feature females who are unreliable narrators continues.
Fiona Barton released her debut novel “The Widow” in February. Her central character, the “widow” of the title was a highly unreliable narrator. Camilla Way, another British novelist, recently published a mystery called “Watching Edie.” This story is told from the viewpoints of two different women, one from the past, the other in the present. Both narrators can be quite unreliable. All these books are captivating reads.
One of our narrators in “Watching Edie” is Edie. Her viewpoint is of the present day, the “after” timeline. Edie lives alone in her London apartment. She works as a waitress and lives an isolated life, estranged from her mother and most of her former friends. She’s also pregnant. The father of her unborn baby, a co-worker, isn’t aware of her condition.
The other viewpoint is that of Heather who narrates the “before” sections. Heather’s flashback segments alternate with Edie’s present day descriptions of what is happening. As teenagers these two women became close friends. As the book begins Edie and Heather had fallen out of touch years ago.
Suddenly Heather materializes at Edie’s door. Edie is astonished. As we alternate back and forth across the timelines and each woman’s viewpoint we begin to obtain a sense of their previous connection and the bizarre nature of their reunion.
When they were teenagers they could not have been more different. Edie was pretty. Heather was not. Edie was being courted by a handsome young tough. Heather wasn’t finding any suitors. It becomes apparent that Heather was attracted to Edie. Edie was preoccupied with her relationship situation and oblivious to Heather’s infatuation with her.
As we experience Heather’s flashbacks we begin to receive hints regarding the looming disintegration of their friendship. From out of nowhere Heather has reappeared in Edie’s life. How did this occur? Edie’s baby is born. She gets depressed. Heather moves in and takes care of Edie’s baby while Edie mopes. At this point Heather begins assuming control of Edie’s life.
There’s something creepy going on. Edie’s downstairs neighbor, a woman in hiding from an abusive spouse, notices. Edie’s only close relation, an uncle, is kept at a distance from Edie by Heather. What is happening here? Don’t forget that this mysterious tale is being told by these two unreliable narrators. The twists at the end of this novel should leave readers tied up in exquisitely delightful knots.
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