Debut Author's 'Staggering' Sales Break Record

The Girl on the Train 's next stop: the big screen
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 22, 2015 11:55 AM CDT
Debut Author's 'Staggering' Sales Break Record
This photo provided by Riverhead Books shows the cover of the book, "The Girl on the Train," by author Paula Hawkins.   (AP Photo/Riverhead Books)

Journalist-turned-author Paula Hawkins has apparently found her calling. Four months after releasing The Girl on the Train, the author's first thriller has reportedly broken a record as the fastest adult hardcover to reach a "staggering" 2 million copies sold, and a film adaptation is now in the works. "From every record we can find, this is the fastest that an adult new release has ever reached the 2 million mark," a publisher at Riverhead Books tells the Wall Street Journal. (As a children's book, Harry Potter's record of 8.3 million copies sold in 24 hours doesn't count.) DreamWorks nabbed the movie rights to the book before it even hit shelves amid the Gone Girl craze, and director Tate Taylor has signed on to direct, reports the Hollywood Reporter.

The book follows Rachel, an alcoholic divorcee fascinated by a couple she sees in a house each morning while riding the train. She becomes wrapped up in a mystery when the woman disappears—and Rachel may have seen something. Though set in London, it isn't clear if the location will change for the movie. There's no word yet on which actors will star, but Hawkins has suggested Carey Mulligan or Kate Winslet for Rachel and Michelle Williams for the missing woman. Hawkins is also working on her second psychological thriller, likely due out in 2016, which is "very different" than her first, she told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year. "It's got quite a gothic feel to it. It's not about witch-hunting," she said, but contains "something about women being accused of witchcraft." (More books stories.)

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