The Girl on the Train is yet another predictable marriage thriller

One of the most successful genres of the last couple of years has been the marriage thriller, culminating with the much-anticipated release of big-screen adaptations of both S J Watson's Before I Go to Sleep and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. After Flynn's story in particular garnered a huge body of attendant criticism – writing in The New Yorker Joshua Rothman called David Fincher's film a "postmodern mystery", and fellow critic Elif Batuman wrote a brilliant critique of what Flynn's story really tells us about matrimony, Marriage Is An Abduction – I figured that we'd reached something of a saturation point when it came to domestic noir. This, unfortunately, was mere wistful thinking on my part. I eagerly picked up Paula Hawkins' debut The Girl on the Train hoping for something a bit different, even the first of the next big thing in thrillers perhaps, only to discover that what I was reading was nothing more than just another marriage thriller.

Hawkins uses three narrators to tell her story, though the central figure is Rachel, a 30-something, lonely, alcoholic divorcee who rides a commuter train from her home in Buckinghamshire to London's Euston station and back every day. Prepublication claims describing the novel as a contemporary Hitchcockian thriller left me expecting something akin to The Lady Vanishes, or even a Murder on the Orient Express-esque locomotive-set mystery. However, it's not so much what happens on the train as what happens off it that drives the plot. "Twice a day, I am offered a view into other lives, just for a moment," Rachel muses, looking out of the carriage window.

There’s a particular stretch of track on her commute during which the train inevitably comes to a halt at a red signal that just so happens to overlook the back gardens of a certain row of suburban houses. As a practised voyeur, Rachel knows that if she positions herself correctly in the right carriage, as the train shudders to a standstill she’s afforded an unadulterated view into number 15, her favourite house on the street. She knows it “by heart”, and the couple who live there have become as familiar to her as close friends. She’s even given them names – Jess and Jason – and backstories: a perfect marriage for a perfect couple. But then one morning Rachel sees Jess (real name Megan) in the arms of a man who isn’t Jason, and then, only a few days later, her instantly recognisable face appears in the newspapers after her husband reports her missing. Convincing herself that what she saw might have bearing on Megan’s disappearance, Rachel approaches the police.

Drawn into the intrigue, Rachel is given a sense of purpose that’s been missing from her life – “I feel like I’m part of this mystery, I’m connected. I am no longer just a girl on the train, going back and forth without point or purpose” – but as the plot thickens, she slowly realises her real involvement in the drama is actually much more than just “drunk Rachel – wanting to be part of the story”, and we learn that she’s got her own reasons for being drawn to that particular row of houses alongside the railway tracks: just a couple of doors down from Megan and Scott live Rachel’s ex-husband Tom, his new wife Anna and their baby.

Following the kind of split narrative used to popular effect in both Gone Girl and A S A Harrison's The Silent Wife, Flynn's story not only jumps between narrators it also flits between the past and the present in the process. It's a clever device, useful for keeping the reader guessing for as long as possible, and the suspense is successfully further heightened by Rachel's inherent untrustworthiness since her alcoholism renders her both an unreliable witness as far as the police are concerned, and the booze-soaked blackouts she suffers from leave gaping holes in her own timeline of events. These devices, coupled with twists and turns aplenty will certainly appease many Gone Girl fans, but I have to admit that I found the plot more than a little clunky and slow-moving in parts, and I certainly wasn't on tenterhooks, having guessed the conclusion of the tale long before the traditional and entirely predictable denouement. But my marriage-thriller fatigue aside, what grated the most was the fact that Hawkins' envisioning of each of the three central female characters was determined entirely by their fertility (or lack thereof). It's just so disheartening that popular fiction is still actively propagating such outdated one-dimensional female stereotypes.

Lucy Scholes is freelance journalist who lives in London.

thereview@thenational.ae

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”