Like her first thriller, paula hawkins doesnt shy away from the grim, gritty subject of womens abuse. This new novel by the author of the 2015 monster hit the girl on the train features. Hawkinss story opens with the death of nel abbott in the drowning pool, a death that her teenage. Each month, i hold a poll where you can pick from 12 books i want to read, rotating a new one in and out each month. This was not such a good idea because the book is remarkedly different from hawkinss first book and that probably is the only reason why i wasnt much satisfied when i finished reading into the water. Hawkins s story opens with the death of nel abbott in the drowning pool, a death that her teenage daughter lena believes was suicide, but that nels estranged sister jules, summoned reluctantly. A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other peoples lives. Into the water by paula hawkins, 9780857524430, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Beckford has cliffs, a bridge, a river and a drowning pool. Gripping, enthrallinga topnotch thriller and a compulsive read. It is hawkins second fulllength thriller following the success of the girl on the train although the novel performed well, becoming a sunday times best seller and featuring on the new york times fiction best sellers of 2017, critical reception was generally not as positive as it had been for her debut thriller.
Not only because thats where nel died, but because the book nel was working on is inspired by the drowning pool and all the secrets hidden within. In into the water, however, hawkinss stock townspeople circle round and round the drowning pool, whose sinister nature has remained static for centuries. Paula hawkins talks troublesome women, good men, and. The novel takes place in the eerie and isolated english village of beckford, where throughout history.
Much like her last book, its full of creepy, alternating unreliable narrators, as well as twists and turns. Paula hawkins was born in august 1972, in harare, the capital city of zimbabwe, which, at the time was a british colony. The book follows hawkins debut bestseller, the girl on the train, and its a disappointment. Nel chooses to write not only about the historical deaths by drowning but also the more recent drownings. Its impossible to pin down the alchemy that turns a novel like paula. Mic a pageturning thriller will haunt you long after this book is over. It also has a long history of women falling off, stepping into or otherwise dying via any of the above. Nel was always fascinated by the history of the drowning pool, even writing a book about the women who entered the water and never surfaced. Thankfully, into the water not only delivers another suspenseful and chilling thriller but reveals more of hawkins storytelling strengths.
Liquid also plays a major role in paula hawkins thrilling followup, into the water, but as its title suggests, its not the inebriating kind. Into the water, the most recent novel by paula hawkins, is even more abundantly ridden with multiple narrators and confusing plot points than her previous release, the best selling girl on a train. The revelations about her sisters life and death produce but a ripple in juless daytoday life. Nel was absolutely obsessed with the drowning pool and the women who had died there before. You dont know for sure which of those characteristics belong to whom until the book s final chapters. No one wanted to think about the fact that the water in that river was infected with the blood and bile of persecuted women, unhappy women. That isnt this book, though there is a slight supernatural moment or two. The drowning pool, set in california and first published in 1950, is archers second outing and the most formally assured of the series. A young girl accused of witchcraft is tested by seeing whether the water will accept or.
Then, just when even your friend who doesnt do books has read it, the. Paula hawkins has followed up the girl on the train, her 2015 monster hit. Hawkins seemed unsure as to whether she was portraying it as a ghostly, mysticaltype thing, or just a sinister location where a lot of people have died. Nel was researching the history of local women who died in the drowning. In a bend of the river where the waters are the calmest, known as the drowning pool, nel abbotts body is discovered. But whether hawkins can establish a reliably lucrative formula is a. The girls off the cliff in paula hawkins into the water. After the girl on the train which i loved this was a huge disappointment. I was excited to read this one, but hadnt read girl on the train before, so hawkins is a new author for me. With nels fifteen year old daughter, lena, who believes that her mother has committed suicide and a town that she vowed to never return to, jules is forced to relieve experiences that shed. Basically the story was about a place called the drowning pool where. I didnt care about beyond wishing theyd all jump in the drowning pool. Theres a large cliff above that leads to the question. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide.
Another mystery involving a dead woman, narrated by multiple characters 15 this time, the novel features water as a lethal weapon and is. Dont be fooled by plot twists that seem clich, because theres always something else right around the corner. After the runaway success of the girl on the train, it probably wasnt easy for paula hawkins to release a new book into the world. Told through multiple viewpoints, the story immerses the reader in a complex web of suspense, suspicion and emotional turmoil as her characters wrestle with the recent drowning of a single mother and a teenage girl, their bodies found weeks apart at the bottom of a river known as the drowning pool. The very first page of into the water by paula hawkins whose debut novel the girl on the train became a global bestseller is a reimagining of a horrific historic moment.
Set in the northern england village of beckford, into the water tells the story of a series of mysterious drowning deaths some suicide, some not, all occurring at a local river known as the drowning pool. Into the water dives even deeper into the feminist issues central in the girl on the train. Paula hawkins, author of into the water and the girl on the train author paula hawkins was down on her luck when her 2015 book the girl. Nel, has been found in the drowning pool, she drives back to the town that she had vowed never to return to. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. You dont know for sure which of those characteristics belong to whom until the books final chapters. Now, its jules or, rather, her sister nel, who has gone into the water under suspicious circumstances. The book immediately starts off trying to build up mystery surrounding this drowning pool. Into the water starts with the death of nel abbott.
Following her psychological thriller, the girl on the train, paula hawkins is at it again with into the water. So, i started reading into the water keeping in mind my likeness for hawkinss previous book. Trigger warning contains references to suicide into the water is paula hawkins second novel and is released today 2nd may 2017, following on from the highlysuccessful the girl on the train. The river has a history of claiming women, but no one would have thought theyd fish nel abbott out of its depths. And most of all shes afraid of the water, and the place they call the drowning pool described by the sunday mirror as a brooding and complex read that. Into the water is a fiction story told in four parts, with no chapter headings. This infuriates louise, the mother of a girl who recently committed suicide in the pool. A young girl accused of witchcraft is tested by seeing whether the water will accept or reject her. The community resents that shes writing a book about the witchcraft trials and other historical events that took place in beckford. Into the water by paula hawkins was the book selected by my blog followers as my book bucket read for january 2018.
Into the water by paula hawkins is a 2017 riverhead books publication. Ive been anticipating this for awhile now because i did enjoy her hugely successful debut the girl on the train despite the fact the genre was weighing a bit on me at the time. Nels corpse has been found in the drowning pool, a notorious spot. And most of all shes afraid of the water, and the place they call the drowning pool. The sunday times bestseller by hawkins, paula from amazons fiction books store.
The pool lives up to its bleak name when a mother and a teenage girl are both found dead within the waters depths one summer. They say she jumped into the drowning pool, but her sister knows better. Paula hawkins rode to fame on her 2015 hit the girl on the train, a book that. People think terrible things in into the water, her followup to the bestseller, hawkins writes about womens greatest fears so often at the. This 53page guide for into the water by paula hawkins includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 86 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Into the water is about a town that has a drowning pool.
Paula hawkins latest release, into the water, shares the story of the women whove been lost to the drowning pool. I really, really admire paula hawkins for doing something really quite. In fact, theres a bend in the river locally referred to as the drowning pool because of the number of bodies that have been found there. Told through multiple viewpoints, the story immerses the reader in a complex web of suspense, suspicion and emotional turmoil as her characters wrestle with the recent drowning of a single mother and a teenage girl, their bodies found. Abbott was at work on a book, the drowning pool, that detailed the drownings of. In 1989, hawkins moved to england, and ended up at the oxford university, where she studied economics, philosophy and politics. Well, hawkins is back with a new book, into the water, and psychological thriller fans everywhere are going bonkers with excitement. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Why paula hawkinss into the water is actually better. Into the water new book by paula hawkins, author of the girl on the train out 2 may. Into the water 2017, the followup to paula hawkins s, debut novel, the girl on the train, employs multiple narrators to tell a story centered on the mysterious drowning deaths of multiple women from the same small town.
Dont get on board for paula hawkins girl on the train. The small english village of beckford has seen more than its reasonable share of drownings. And paula hawkins knows how to captivate readers with an enthralling and suspenseful mystery. Paula hawkins follows her debut smash, the girl on the train, with the twisty and compulsive into the water. Were featuring millions of their reader ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book. Into the water by paula hawkins goodreads share book. First, from paula hawkins, it was rachel the girl on the train, who spotted something fishy one day on her commute. Into the water hawkins second novel is a world away from her blockbuster first novel girl on a train. Upon hearing this news, jules is forced to return to her familys vacation home in beckford, take in nels. Does paula hawkinss new novel into the water live up to the hype. Into the water once again throws a group of women together, this time in the english village of beckford, where a riverbank cliff and the drowning pool beneath make for a popular suicide.
Like paula hawkins 2015 hit the girl on the train, this, her second thriller. Overplotted to the extent that i dont think even paula hawkins knew what was going on, overwritten and full of characters i didnt care about beyond wishing theyd all jump in the drowning pool. Into the water 2017 is a thriller novel by british author paula hawkins. Into the water is the second book from bestselling author paula hawkins, whose first novel the girl on the train will no doubt be familiar to you. Nel had been writing a history of the infamous drowning pool, which didnt. What made paula hawkinss 2015 debut the girl on the train such a. Paula hawkinss into the water dives into murky skulduggery the. I spoke to hawkins about her good men and troublesome, the imagery of the drowning pool, and the success of the girl on the train.