Hawkins thriller is spellbinding read

FIRST alcoholism and now suicide . . . Paula Hawkins – known for her successful debut The Girl on the Train – has chosen another dark theme around which to write her second novel.

Released this month in South Africa, Into the Water touches on suicide, rape, infidelity and murder.

In this novel, we have a number of characters whose differing recollections of past events,show that memory can be very selective.

Into the Water is set in the fictional town of Beckford through which snakes a river “infected with the blood and bile of persecuted women”.

According to the town’s history, in the past witches were drowned in this river; and in more recent times women have chosen to end their own lives in it.

The thriller tells the story of Julia and her sister Nel, who is found dead in the river. Did she commit suicide by jumping over a cliff into the river as the police and even her own daughter believe, or was she pushed?

While not as immediately absorbing as her first novel, this is mostly because Hawkins has elected to tell the story from the perspective of a number of different characters and the change from one perspective to the other interrupts the flow. As you get familiar with the characters however, the story moves at a fair pace and the suspense is held until the end.

An enthralling read that probably won’t leave you with lifted spirits but will remind you to not leave things unsaid with those you love. — Julia Butcher