Hawkins was employed as a journalist for 15 years before becoming a novelist. She commuted to and from London, on the train, as a business reporter for The Times of London. Her interest in news, printed and digital, can be seen throughout the novel. For instance, as Rachel prepares to disembark from her train, she sees passengers, “folding newspapers and packing away tablets and e-readers as they prepare to disembark” (92). Throughout the novel, Hawkins mentions specific news outlets, like the BBC, the Daily Telegraph, and the Daily Mail, and Rachel’s thoughts reflect their varying reputations. Newspapers also inform how the novel is structured: Hawkins includes dates in each chapter, in the format that many newspapers use, e.g., “Sunday, August 18, 2013.” Hawkins also, initially, divides chapters into morning and evening sections, mirroring the morning and evening editions of newspapers.

News also develops the thematic ideas of memory and identity. In other words, news is something that people in the novel share—a collective record, or memory, of events. Large headlines can be seen by multiple people on newsstands, as well as on mobile devices. When Rachel can’t get her phone to load the news, she sees a headline about Megan on another train passenger’s tablet.