5 Reasons We Can’t Wait to Read The Girl on the Train Author Paula Hawkins’ Next Book

If you needed one more reason to fervently await spring fever, here you go: Paula Hawkins just announced that her follow-up to smash hit thriller The Girl on the Train will hit shelves May 2 of next year. Titled Into the Water, this forthcoming novel of psychological suspense is set in a small riverside town where the bodies of a woman and a teen girl are discovered a few days apart. The investigation that follows begins to uncover a complex connection between the two murders, with, we assume, a whole new pack of the kind of delicious twists and turns that made Girl an ongoing literary phenomenon.
The announcement has us giddy with anticipation, and not just because it’s confirmation Hawkins is sticking with the twisty thriller tales we love. Here are five reasons we just drew a big red heart around May 2 on our calendars.
The Slipperiness of Truth
One of the most brilliant aspects of The Girl on the Train was the way Hawkins played with perception in a variety of ways. Rachel’s alcoholism made her an unreliable narrator to begin with, but also degraded her ability to see things clearly even in the moment. This not only made the surprises of the plot more powerful, but gave the book a depth many thrillers lack. Based on the descriptions of Into the Water, Hawkins is exploring similar themes; the story concerns “family secrets and ‛the slipperiness of truth.'” Her U.S. editor says the book will “interrogate the deceitfulness of memory,” which is a fascinating extension of the themes that made Girl sooooo good.
There’s Gonna be Witchcraft
When most of us think witch hunts and trials, we think Salem and America. But Scotland saw its own rash of women being accused of witchcraft, and in an interview last year Hawkins said, “I wanted there to be something about women being accused of witchcraft” in her next novel. That works perfectly with those themes of unreliable memory and slippery truth and adds a macabre element of hysteria and creepiness that makes us even more excited. (The only thing that could make us more excited about the witch angle is if Hawkins announced a starring character named Black Philip.)

The Focus on Women
Hawkins has taken a genre often dominated by men and focused it on women—flawed, complicated women. In The Girl on the Train, Rachel is weak, crippled by her addiction and making awful decisions based on loneliness and obsession. She’s also the victim of psychological abuse, and the story is as much about her slowly crawling out of the hell created for her—by men—as it is the mystery. Hawkins doesn’t simply write the so-called “strong female character,” but rather writes about women who feel real, complex, warm-blooded people with problems, frailties, and a difficult relationship with the modern world. We frankly can’t wait to meet the females Hawkins has created for us in Into the Water.
Those Twists, Tho
All right, let’s be honest: Hawkins is a modern master of the twisty plot. When The Girl on the Train dropped it was one of those books your friends pushed into your hands, telling you you simply must read this. The book has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide because it surprised everyone who read it. Even if you went in with your eyes wide open, seeking clues and trying to outsmart Hawkins, chances are pretty good she shocked you at least once or twice. We’re absolutely thrilled to repeat that experience, and since no one does the twists like Hawkins, no other novel can get us quite as excited as Into the Water.
The Feels
Finally, our biggest reason for being excited about a new book from Paula Hawkins is the emotional power of her writing. In a lot of thrillers and mystery stories, the victims exist mainly to kick the story into motion. They’re a spur for an avenging detective, or a toys for a horrifying villain. In Girl Hawkins told a story in which every single character had a life, a back story, ambitions and real depth. It’s a rare writer who can spin a great mystery that also tells more than one story that kind of shatters you. Hawkins is that writer, and as a result we’re buying every book she writes forever.
In other words, if Into the Water is even half as good as The Girl on the Train, we’re in. Go to your boss and schedule your reading vacation days for next May right now—you’re going to need them.