Have you ever heard so much about a book, for so long, seen it get turned into a movie, and then finally gotten around to reading it and had your main reaction to be, “…..huh?” Of course you have. You’re all book people here. So yeah, that was my experience with this book.
I went into this fascinated by the premise – an agoraphobic woman sees something suspicious through her window… but then what? She’s agoraphobic. She can’t help. She’s an unreliable witness (for various reasons I won’t reveal) so calling the police might not be much help. So what does she do? How does she navigate the situation?
All that’s there, kind of. But it’s not as exciting as I thought it would be. There are huge swathes of the book in which nothing happens, and I was just booooored. Then something would happen, and it wasn’t really that interesting. I kept going only to find out what happened at the end, but I didn’t really care for the journey all that much. I guessed the first big reveal pretty much at the beginning of the book and spent what felt like years waiting for it to be revealed (I was right, btw), so by the time it was my only sensation was annoyance that it had taken so long. I also didn’t really like the characters. Some aren’t developed, others are a bit patchy and not cohesive, others are watered down and just not very sympathetic.
Another issue for me was that I didn’t find the portrayal of Anna’s agoraphobia to be very convincing, and perhaps even problematic. I don’t think this is a spoiler, but if you don’t want to know anything going in, skip the rest of the paragraph. Now, I don’t know much about agoraphobia. So I could be wrong here. But there are parts where she is able to go outside by basically just closing her eyes. I feel like that’s maybe not really how agoraphobia works? Like I’m claustrophobic, and MRI machines are hell. If I’m in one, it doesn’t matter if my eyes are closed, I start to hyperventilate and then I have to be removed before I freak out and break the machine or myself. Closing my eyes does not affect my awareness that the thing I have a phobia about is happening. So I found that to be a bit of a worrying portrayal, assuming agoraphobia works similarly, because if so, then it underplays a serious mental health condition, thus creating a harmful narrative that people with agoraphobia can simply “get over it” if they try. Mental illness not being taken seriously is a big issue to me, so this felt wrong to me and made it hard for me to buy into the character and premise.
All that said, the actual thriller story wasn’t awful. I didn’t guess the ending or the perpetrator, and I was suitably surprised by the twist. So if that’s all you’re looking for, sure, this will be a fine book for you. If you’re looking for a really evenly paced, fast-moving thriller, or if you have similar concerns about representation of mental health issues, this might not be the best choice.
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 neighbors.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother and 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. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Woman in the Window
Author: A.J. Finn
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: HarperAudio
Released: January 1, 2018
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Psychological, Thriller
Pages: 448
Date Read: August 25-September 5, 2022
Rating: 3.5-4.0/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.96/5 (693,432 ratings)