Author: A.J. Finn
ISBN: 9780008234164
RRP: $29.99
Publisher: Harper Collins
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Woman In The Window is taut and twisted with interesting premises and a huge nod to the gritty black and white suspense films of a bygone era.
I read an uncorrected proof of The Woman In The Window so I didn’t have the back of the book blurb and I’m so far behind that I didn’t read the media release that came with it. I know there’s a lot of hype around this release but it’s not something I heard much about because I’ve been a little sheltered trying to get other stuff sorted. All things considered I went in pretty much blind, which I often do and I think can be a good thing. I have heard it likened to Girl on a Train and Gone Girl, neither of which I have read – or watched for that matter.
There’s been a lot going on around me so I haven’t had a great deal of time to focus on reading, I also found it took me quite a while to really get invested here and I’m not sure if the two are related. When I did get invested though, I didn’t want to put the book down. There was a lot I had on my list for tonight but I kept finding myself pulled back to the book.
Dr Anna Fox is an unreliable narrator whose agoraphobia has her trapped inside her house, she hasn’t been outside in ten months and things aren’t looking like changing any time soon. We don’t know why she’s agoraphobic, just that it’s PTSD related and started almost a year ago. She is a child psychologist, separated from her family and heavily (self)medicated.
Unreliable witnesses seem to be a popular tool in suspense story-telling at the moment because the reader is left wondering what to believe.
Dr Fox likes to watch the outside world through her windows, and the lens of her camera. She knows all about her neighbours as she watches them from afar though many of them wouldn’t know who she was. She is in a great period of time to be agoraphobic really because technology means that you don’t have to be out of touch and you can do pretty much everything you need to from home. Online shopping, online pharmacists, online gaming and then the internet brings people as close as you want them. Dr Fox spends a lot of time in an online chat forum for sufferers of agoraphobia and she relies on her formal training to help where she can.
This is a suspense story with Dr Fox painted as an unreliable witness from early on so it will be tricky to work out what to say without saying too much. She is a complex character with a lot going on, much of which we slowly get a handle on as the story unfolds. The love she has of old black and white movies is something we learn early on and it’s something that reflects on the story unfolding in her life. Is that part of the argument painting her as an unreliable witness or is it coincidental? There is quite a lot of reference to the classics she is watching and also some direct quotes.
I really don’t know what to say about the story without risking the suspense so I will just stick to my thoughts and reactions to the book.
It’s been a couple of days since I finished the book and that is never a good thing, trying to picture it now and I get a visual in my head which is very much the gritty film noir atmosphere of the movies Dr Fox loves. Looking at the story as a whole there aren’t very many characters because how many people does an agoraphobe actually come in contact with.
Dr Fox is well drawn but she’s not clearly drawn because otherwise it would be difficult to find her questionable later. We get to know her well; no it’s more that we get to study her movements closely but a lot is left hazy so that her unreliability remains intact. We see all of her neighbours though we only meet a few of them, and her tenant comes into focus slowly.
I was drawn into the drama, the tension and the suspense. There were a lot of twists, and of course some dead ends, and usually I am pretty good at predicting what’s to come but I couldn’t get a handle on this one, I found it difficult to predict and I like that.
The Woman in the Window is the debut novel of A.J. Finn and it has been widely acquired for release, and film rights. I would be interested to see how it translates to the screen because it is such an atmospheric piece.
I gave it 4 stars because I really enjoyed the read, it was suspenseful and the heroine was intriguing. Dr Fox seems to be at her weakest, she’s shut in and self medicated so her limitations are many but she’s still intelligent and when it come right down to it she is still very determined and resourceful. This is very much a story that calls on the convenience provided by the internet age and it was well utilised. I didn’t have the hype to build it up for me before I started so I went in with no expectations and I think that can be a good thing.
A.J. Finn can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Woman in the Window is published by Harper Collins and is available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Harper Collins 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading The Woman in the Window so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the offer to review this book. I absolutely loved The Woman in the Window a debut novel by A.J. Finn.
The central character is Dr. Ann Fox a childrens psychologist, who now suffers from agoraphobia, traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression which she is taking medication for. Unfortunately she hasn’t left the house in ten months.
She doesn’t go outside the front door and mostly spends her days drinking. She goes on online chats and watches suspense movies. She also spends time just sitting by the window looking at her neighbours.
One day as she looks out the window she notices new neighbours move in. They are couple, Jane and Alister Russell and their son Ethan.
One night she witnesses a crime while looking out the window. She calls the police but is not believed. The police put it down to her imagination.
It was a great book and kept you guessing throughout. It is a great psychological thriller that won’t disappoint. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
A wonderful, suspenseful read!
If you loved Girl On A Train and Gone Girl, then you will love this new psychological thriller, The Woman In The Window. The main character is Dr Anna Fox, a successful child psychologist who witnesses what she believes to be a murder. After a traumatic event in her life, Anna is a housebound recluse so unfortunately for her, no one appears to believe her. As an unreliable witness who takes alcohol with her medication, did Anna really witness a murder? Is she of right mind? Why has nobody else reported the person involved as missing?
The author, A J Finn has written a highly suspenseful and interesting novel that is very difficult to put down. Written with references to today’s world makes this story very modern. I was very absorbed in Anna’s character and had to keep reading to find out what would happen to her. Thank you very much Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this great book. I thoroughly recommend it and am now looking forward to seeing the movie!
I thought I would go out on a limb when choosing the February book I would like to read. A psychological thriller is not usually something that piques my interest but I am glad to have tried a genre that is new to me.
I found this to be an exciting, page turning novel with many minor stories complimenting the major plot. For a long time I wanted to understand what had happened to Anna, to understand why her life was turning out the way it was. Why she was obsessed with other peoples lives but couldn’t fix her own.
The twists and turns in the plot added to the suspense and kept me interested, right until the end. I can see that this book would be perfect for a movie and if its anything like other notable psychological thrillers ie ‘Gone Girl’, this movie is going to be fantastic.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book.
I loved this book!!
I was somewhat sceptical as I had heard it was hard to get into at first, but I didn’t think that way at all! I loved this books from the very start and found it very hard to put down.
Dr Anna Fox is a sad character from the start and I felt so sorry for her battling her agoraphobia and PTSD. She really seemed to be having a hard time, especially with her constant self medicating and bottles of Merlot everyday.
It was obvious that there was something seriously wrong from early on but I was still surprised with all the twists and turns.
This book had me guessing the whole time, and even at the end when I thought I finally had it I didn’t!
I honestly believe this will be one of the best thrillers for 2018, and I’m excited to see it as a movie, because I can totally understand why they chose it for a movie.
Thankyou as always to Beauty and lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this great book.
I highly recommend and rate it 5 stars.
The Woman In The Window , is a pshychological thriller by A.J. Finn. It is an amazing read that had me hooked right from the beginning. With short chapters and the fast paced story line , so much info, I did not want to put this book down.
The main character Dr. Anna Fox, a child psychologist and is suffering from Agarophobia and PTSD. As a result she is trapped in her home and passes her time ‘watching’ her neighbours, through a camera lens, participating in an online chat forum for other agoraphobes she tries to help, using her training as a child psychologist. She also watches a lot of black and white movies, drinks a lot of wine and takes a lot of prescription medication.
One night while ‘watching’ her neighbours, she witnesses an unbelievable crime, but getting anyone to believe her is a major problem. There is no proof and she is an unreliable witness because of her circumstances.
She knows what she saw and is determined to do her own investigating and find out the truth. Along the way we find our more about Anna and why she is the way she is.
The inclusion of red herrings and a couple of twists , in true thriller style make it all the more suspenseful.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Woman In The Window, a great thriller that did not disappoint. I can’t wait to see it portrayed on the big screen.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read and review this fantastic thriller.
WOW !!!!!! Loved reading The Woman In The Window…….
I love to read thrillers and this book is not disappoint. It had me hooked from the beginning,This was a very easy read because of the small chapters. I kept saying one more, one more chapter before i put it away.
The story of Anna was a surprise to read. With all the twists and turns it kept me on my toes figuring out who was to blame, was it all in her mind and what was coming next. There was so much information to absorb before the real action happened.
Boy, i did not see coming as to who was to blame for the mess in the end.
This was a fantastic read and look forward to reading more from A.J.Finn.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read this book.
A.J. Finn has used the tried and true unreliable narrator trope. However unlike Girl on the Train I did feel empathy for Anna. She had (I think) legitimate reasons for her alcoholism and pill popping PTSD.
The reader is taken inside Anna’s world; those four walls and four floors of her Harlem home.
Never have I been so fascinated by the hum drum lives of neighbours. Anna’s prying, watching her neighbours through a camera lens and googling really creeped me out. How our lives are laid bare, details floating around the web to piece together by whomever.
Anna is by no means a recluse. She chats online to other agoraphobia suffers, is in a chess club and also has an online French tutor.
She quickly becomes obsessed with the new family, the Russells, recently moved in across the park. A mirror image of her own, once perfect, family. Mum, Dad and one child. Her husband and daughter left months ago but she still talks to them regularly.
One night Anna witnesses something horrific in the Russell home, something that cannot go unreported. However no-one believes her, claiming she is hallucinating due to the heavy cocktail of alcohol and drugs she is taking. More strange things happen which leave Anna questioning her own state of mind.
The Woman in the Window is an ode to old black and white noir movies. Anna spent her days watching these movies over and over and quite often quotes from these movies crash into her waking hours replicating in her life.
This is a book that will take over your mind, take over your life whilst you’re reading it. The writing is taut and atmospheric. I don’t think I’ve read a debut this chilling, this addictive.
Content: implied sex (behind closed doors) minimal coarse language (ramps up a bit towards the end)
5/5 stars
The Woman in the Window, wow what can I say, I LOVED this book. It was suspenseful, interesting and attention grabbing from start to finish.
A. J. Finn’s novel centres around the alcoholic, agoraphobic Dr Anna Fox, child psychologist who hasn’t left her New York city home in over 10 months. She’s estranged from her husband and young daughter but still speaks to them frequently.
She passes the time by observing, photographing and sometimes inventing dialogue for her myriad of neighbours.
It’s all innocent until a new family moves in across the park, the Russells. Their teenage son seems to connect with Dr Fox in a strange way. But all is not as it seems. Anna witnesses what she thinks is a brutal murder but because of her mental incapacties, nobody will take her seriously. Can she separate truth from fantasy before it’s too late?
Deeply suspenseful, I felt like the writing style was a series of urgent telegrams, leaving me wanting more. And the Hitchcock/film noir references made it even more like an old school movie screenplay playing out.
You can somewhat tell A.J Finn has a journalism background, his research, knowledge of the subject matter and succinct writing style are excellent and very polished. I can’t wait to see when this book is made into a movie, it’d be a Must See!
I was intrigued to read The Woman In The Window. My book bestie wasn’t a fan and we have similar taste. So many others though, raved about it in their reviews. It’s also being made into a movie which is a good sign. So now that I’ve read it I can say that I did like it but for a debut novel The Woman In The Window had its flaws. The story line was well set up as I got to know the protagonist, Anna, with all her perceived issues and problems. Alcoholic, nosy neighbour, recluse, drug addict, divorcee….the list went on and on. However, despite its short, sharp chapters not a lot happened seemed to happen in the first half of the book. The second half is where I was left gasping as all my preconceived notions of Anna came crumbling down. From here the novel quickly picked up it’s paced and left me reeling as one event collided with another. I never saw what was coming but little clues were cleverly left in the characters conversations which often left me pondering. So the second half literally saved the book for me. If you enjoy psychological thrillers or are in need of something different, get through the first half of A.J Finn’s novel as the pay off is worth the wait.
The woman in the window is the debut novel for A J Finn, and what a little cracker it is. The main character, Anna Fox, a 38 year old psychiatrist who lives alone since separating from her husband and daughter. Anna’s condition prevents her from leaving the house so she spends her days drinking merlot and spying on her neighbours through her camera zoom lens.
Things start to unravel when, after one too many merlots and a mixture of pills, she witnesses something shocking, or does she??
It’s an easy read with short, sharp and shiny chapters that move quickly. It keeps you turning the pages late into the night. The plot twists and turns numerous times and I didn’t see final twist.
I can see this book as a movie. It should be good!! The book is good and it’s worth investing your time to read.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the read.