Title: The Woman In The Window
Author: A J Finn
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Psychological thriller
First Publication: 2018
Language: English
Major Characters: Anna Fox, the Russels
Theme: A Primer on mental illness (specifically agoraphobia)
Setting Places: New York State (United States)
Narration: First Person from Anna’s point of view
Book Summary: The Woman In The Window
What did she see?
It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.
Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours.
When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.
But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?
Book Review: The Woman In The Window
As I started reading The Woman In The Window by A J Finn, I got the immediate impression that I was seeing one of my favorite movies being played out a little differently. That movie is Hitchcock’s “Rear Window.” Also, other film noir classics came to mind and are mentioned in the story. This book had all the elements of one or any of those films.
A very good read with all the twists, turns and suspense expected of a psychological thriller. Very well done and I really enjoyed it.
Anna Fox is living in an enormous walk-up in NYC and we meet up soused. She’s surrounded with empty wine bottles and littered with prescription bottles. We quickly learn that she suffers from agoraphobia and is fascinated with spying on her neighbors. She has an online community called Agora that she keeps up with and in this generation, she has everything delivered to her door. She has a past that the reader slowly learns as the novel progresses, and honestly how can you trust a narrator that mixes medication and alcohol?? As her spying continues, she thinks she notices a murder take place across the park. Or did it…?
“My head was once a filing cabinet. Now it’s a flurry of papers, floating on a draft.”
Honestly, this book, The Woman In The Window by A J Finn, was difficult to put down. The pages practically turned themselves as I rushed to find out what happened. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Finn takes us on another spiral and left me reeling with the impossible guess of an ending. I loved that Anna was a psychologist and she could rationally speak to her diagnosis. And appreciated the heart-breaking honesty of her situation especially in comparison to her neighbors. I had to know how this one would end, and Anna’s situation got creepier and creepier.
A very good read with all the twists, turns and suspense expected of a psychological thriller. Very well done and I really enjoyed it.
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