I’ll continue writing about grief: Paula Hawkins

Author Paula Hawkins talks about learning from her failures, writing about trauma, and more

I don’t think I would have written The Girl on the Train had I not written those other novels. Those were training for me. PAULA HAWKINS, AUTHOR

Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel, The Girl on the Train, explored themes like domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse. And the author is determined to keep writing about women’s struggle for liberty and touch upon how they are treated in society. “I will keep talking about the same space — about women’s particular struggle with liberty, their relationship with each other, about the way women are abused, about the talents they have,” Hawkins says.

The author adds that her next book may continue in a similar vein. “I will continue to write about grief and trauma, and how we overcome them. I can imagine my next novel will definitely concentrate on a lot of those issues. My second novel dealt a lot with a memory and there are certain things I want to focus on at the moment. I see that continuing, but you never know, because I don’t plan a lot of novels in advance. I only think about the next thing I want to do,” she added.

The Zimbabwe-born British author faced many failures earlier in her career, with a string of romantic novels — which she wrote under the pseudonym Amy Silver — going unnoticed. Hawkins also wrote The Money Goddess, which was about women who need to get in touch with their pensions and go for a financial makeover.

However, she finally found success with the 2015 novel, The Girl on the Train, which is based on an individual who has succumbed to melancholy and has found her solace in alcohol, seeking happiness in fantasising about the perfect life of a couple from her former husband’s neighbourhood. The tale was adapted for the big screen in 2016, with actress Emily Blunt playing the lead. Hawkins’ second novel, Into the Water, released this year.

Looking back at her struggles, Hawkins says, “I had a series before I wrote The Girl on the Train, which was quite a low grade for me. I have written some other novels, and one of them did very badly, the last one couldn’t sell and I spent three years writing them. It was a very [trying] time for me to see that phase and to not know what to do next and to have financial difficulties,” the author says.

However, the author feels there are lessons to learn from failures. “I don’t think I would have written The Girl on the Train had I not written those other novels. Those were training for me; those taught me all sorts of things, like plot and characters, and how to push through the difficult problems in a novel. You know, even though it was horrible at that time, it is useful now.”

What about a follow up to The Girl on the Train? “I don’t plan to write a sequel at the moment. For me, that story is done.” The author adds that she was happy with how the film, produced by Mark Platt and DreamWorks, turned out to be. Hawkins feels it is “huge for novelists to have a film made on their work”.

Another film adaptation from her book might be in the pipeline. “I’m talking to the same team, but not to the same producers about making a movie on my second novel,” she says.

PHOTO: NYT