Set in a village in Northern England, Into the Water isn’t a retread of The Girl on the Train. Can Hawkins? Her new novel, Into the Water, will tell. But the typical successful commercial novelist-from James Patterson to Mary Higgins Clark-succeeds not by coming out of nowhere with a remarkable book but because she has hammered out a formula more or less her own, promising her readers a reassuringly familiar experience. Most best-sellers aren’t any better than the drably written and predictably twist-ridden The Girl on the Train, of course, and some are much worse.

But why that particular book? Take Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, a psychological thriller of very modest accomplishment that has sold upward of 11 million copies, putting Hawkins on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid authors in the world, one slot above Game of Thrones’ George R.R.

In addition to the occasional masterpiece, book publishing produces hundreds of thousands of middling titles every year, and every so often one of them catches on, becoming the blockbuster that funds all the rest. As Nel’s pursuit of the truth behind Patrick’s past indirectly causes her death, her spirit causing Patrick’s deserved downfall is fitting.One of the enduring mysteries of popular culture is why certain mediocre works become wildly successful, even inescapable. Helen’s possession of the bracelet brings both Erin and Jules to her doorstep, culminating in something resembling justice for Nel as Patrick is jailed for multiple murders. Mark, looking for something of Katie’s to keep with him, find’s Nel’s avatar instead in Helen’s office, and this bracelet ultimately contributes to his (suggested) death when Lena finds it with him. Helen, drawn to the bracelet among rubbish in the car, keeps it, and by extension has Nel’s spirit with her as she tries to go about her regular life. The bracelet serves as a representation of Nel’s spirit-absent upon her death, reappearing as characters begin unpacking the truth, and figuring prominently in how the story resolves. Nel’s mother’s bracelet-an item she has worn almost every day since her mother died-appears frequently throughout the story, either physically or in discussions among characters.

Into the water hawkins