PRE-PRODUCTION: Concept Research & Development - The Girl on the Train

I have looked into some thriller/crime novels with themes that correlate with my project to allow me to develop my synopsis, and give it more depth with events that have a clear cause and effect. This is important to reach a level of detail which is essential for a gripping thriller, with turns and revelations throughout to keep the audience guessing. There is a particular book that I am aware of with themes that I can write about.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train - Novel 

'The Girl on the Train' is a Psychological Thriller novel written by the British Author Paula Hawkins and published in 2015. It became a no.1 best seller, referred to as the next 'Gone Girl' with similar themes and characters. The novel follows three main characters, Megan, Rachel and Anna with each one narrating their stories in first person. However, their stories all correlate and combine throughout the novel so these connections are revealed to the audience slowly as the story unfolds.

I have looked at a particular scene in the book which is also shown in the film adaptation. The scene I was looking at was when the audience finds out that one of the main characters Megan gave birth to a baby at the age of 17 and we see a memory of her laying in the bath with the baby. She falls asleep and the baby drowns. Desperate and devastated, she buries the baby and makes out like it never happened. However, in keeping the birth and death of the baby a secret from everyone for the next decade of her life, trying to repress the memory nearly drives her insane. 

The connection between her character and the mother in my project is that they both lose their babies without much of a choice and in some forced way. Megan's baby dies so although it was something she could've prevented, it is not something she can get back and so she is driven mad by this. In contrast, the mother in my story had no choice in the matter as she has her daughter stolen from her. It is not really the mother's fault as she is tending her other daughter at the time. However, I see the mother as a result being somewhat driven insane when her daughter is taken from her, riddled with guilt even though it wasn't her fault.  I imagine the character of the mother being emotionally unstable, channelling her every move, devoted to the case, forgetting all else. I imagine she is like the character of Megan from this novel in this respect. I will take this concept forward to build on the character of the mother for the development of the story. This will aid my creative writing especially when devising the episodes synopsis.