Review: THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, A. J. Finn

• this edition published  by Harper Collins UK
• ISBN 978-0-00-823416-4
• 427 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

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?

My Take

This book is layered like an onion, and we spend most of the reading time working out why Anna, a child psychiatrist, has become agoraphobic. Compounding her problems is the fact that she has become a heavy drinker (in the eyes of her neighbours a drunk) and she mixes her medication with alcohol with the result that she loses track of time, and seems to suffer from hallucinations. She watches her many neighbours through the lens of her camera but rarely takes photos.

Anna spends much of her time watching old black and white movies, mainly thrillers, but she often dozes off in them and then confuses their scripts with her actual life.

There are lots of mysteries to solve in this story. When Anna thinks she has seen a murder committed she calls the police but even the sympathetic detective and his colleague eventually suggest that she is deluded.

A very good read.

My rating: 4.6

About the author

A. J. Finn is an American author, born in New York. Finn is a pseudonym for Daniel Mallory. He is an Oxford graduate and former book critic.
A. J. Finn has written for numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Times Literary Supplement. Finn’s debut novel, The Woman in the Window, has been sold in thirty-nine territories worldwide and is in development as a major motion picture from Fox. A native of New York, Finn lived in England for ten years before returning to New York City.