Arghadipa Chakraborty

Book:- Into the Water

Writer:- Paula Hawkins

No. of Pages :- 426

Genre :- Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological fiction

“Into the Water” is a psychological suspense novel having its backdrop in a fictional town Beckford and it is Nel Abott, who is the protagonist of the novel, succumbs mysteriously and her body is rescued from the deep water of the pool which is a special spot of Beckford. Though at first it seems that Nel has enacted suicide, the novel puts an end to something baleful.

About the Writer :-

Paula Hawkins was born on 26th August, 1972 in Zimbabwe where she was brought up also and moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. She worked as a journalist for 15 years and then she transfers herself into the world of fiction writing.

Her first written novel was “The Girl on the Train” which was published on 6th January, 2015 & became no. 1 bestseller around the world. “The Girl on the Train” was published in over 20 languages and a movie was made on it staring Emily Blunt in 2016.

“Into the Water” is her 2nd stand-alone thriller and it also became No.1 bestseller but failed to be remarkable as much as “The Girl on the Train”.

Why I picked up this book?

After reading Sherlock Holmes and Feluda series of Satyajit Ray, I have become very much interested in stories of mystery, suspense, thriller and crime. As I have heard much about the writer and her exclusive writing skill in mystery and crime stories, I can’t resist myself to pick up this book and go through it.

Theme :-

“Into the Water” is a novel that tells the story of Nel Abott, a beautiful woman and the protagonist of the novel. It is her mysterious death that drives the novel to find its own rhythm. She has her own sister Jules Abott, who is estranged from her family for some obvious reasons since many years but Jules returns to Beckford, her hometown after Nel’s death and becomes the butt of irritation for Lena, Nel’s daughter who does not believe her mother’s suicidal death.

When the inspector Sean Townsend came to let know about the truth of Nel Abott’s death to Jules and Lena, the later flew in the face of his consent and told :-

“Did you know that she (Jules) lied to you? She lied about not being in contact with my mother. Mum tried to call her, like, I don’t even know how many times. She never answered, she never called back, she never – ‘she stopped, looking back at me (Jules). ‘She’s just…why are you even here? I don’t want you here.’ She stalked out of the room, slamming the kitchen door behind her. A few moments later, her bedroom door slammed too.”

There are 11 characters in total throughout the novel and its story is narrated from multiple perspectives. This storytelling approach makes the novel more unique than anything else. There are a number of family relationships – mainly the bond between two sisters, mother and daughter, niece and her newly met aunt (mother’s sister), mother and son, husband and wife, daughter-in-law and father-in-law and many more; friendship and childhood are also described with a brilliant sense in this novel. The readers can suspect all the characters in the novel because they all seem to have a dark side and this ensures a brilliantly twisty read.

I shall not raise the curtain of the mystery as it will spoil the interest of reading of future readers. Go through this book if you are mystery and crime-story lover.

What I liked in this book?

• The novel is narrated from multiple perspectives. It helps to understand everyone’s point of view clearly. This storytelling approach has attracted me.
• Memory has played an important role in this novel.
• The readers can suspect all the characters because everyone seems to have an intention to delete Nel from the world. It is a great characteristic of a successful mystery novel according to me.

What I didn’t like in this book?

• There are many unnecessary subplots in this novel and they have made the novel lengthy and monotonous and have spoiled a bit of charm of this novel.

I think, the detailed descriptions of some minor character’s point of view is not necessary and perhaps their deletion could make the novel better than now.

In conclusion, I want to quote the remark about the novel of Paula Hawkins by Erin Kelly, author of “He said, She said”- ” Dark, gothic, and twisty as a snake in the grass. I read it in one sitting.”

Tags :- #intothewater #paulahawkins #fictionbooks #fictionbookreadin2020