What is the narrator point of view in the novel, The Girl on the Train?

Paula Hawkins tells her novel, The Girl on the Train, in the first-person limited-omniscient perspective from the points of view of the three primary female characters – Rachel, Anna, and Megan. Because the novel is of the mystery and suspense genre, the limited-omniscient aspect allows the reader to know only as much as the characters do, adding elements of reality, apprehension, the unknown, and anxious confusion. Because the novel is about the lives of those three women – Rachel, Megan, and Anna – all intersecting in one way or another, Hawkins allows them to tell their stories themselves. This allows the author to give her three women three distinct voice, and allows deep and penetrating insight into their lives, thoughts, and motives – all of which adds to the overall mystery.

The novel "The Girl on the Train" is narrated from the first-person perspective of the main character, Rachel Watson. Rachel is an unreliable narrator and suffers from alcoholism, which affects her recollection of events and perceptions of the people around her. The story is told through her thoughts and experiences as she becomes embroiled in a mystery involving the disappearance of a woman named Megan Hipwell. The narrative reveals Rachel's troubled past and her efforts to uncover the truth about Megan's disappearance, as well as the secrets and lies of those around her.