Published by William Morrow on 02 Jan 2018
Goodreads | Amazon
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times... and spying on her neighbours.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
Anna Fox is confined in her house by her agoraphobia. She experiences the world through a window, peeping at her neighbours while downing her regular cocktail of wine and pills. Then one day she sees something she shouldn't have. Or did she?
With Anna being an unreliable narrator, I wasn't sure what to believe. I was rooting for her though! I hoped she really did see what she said she saw, but I was skeptical of the conclusions she drew (we all love to make our own speculations!). Everyone in her community gaslighted her, and I so wanted her to prove them wrong!
Just like Anna, I had so many questions I wanted answered, and was frustrated when her community didn't even have the courtesy to accept her truth as her truth--maybe not as a universal truth, but at least as her truth, and then investigate accordingly. Instead, they simply ignored Anna's crisis.
Left to my own devices, I honed in on recurring descriptions and made my own guesses, but I didn't predict the end!
This was a fast-paced thriller (I'm a fan of the short chapters) with an unreliable but sympathetic narrator. I've seen many comparisons of this book made to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, but most preferred The Woman in the Window for its more developed characters.
Reading buddies: Kat's review / Sadia's review
