Anna, a psychologist herself, lives alone in her home in New York City. She is agoraphobic--she can't leave her home--and the reason, at first, isn't clear. It soon becomes apparent that almost a year ago there was some sort of accident, and since then Anna has not been able to leave her house. Her husband and daughter are gone also, so she is alone.
She watches, through her telephoto camera lens, all the happenings around the neighborhood. She has regular visits from her psychiatrist and a physical therapist. When new neighbors move across the park, she is surprised when she is visited by the lady of the house, as well as the teenage son.
When she witnesses a scene through her camera lens of a violent act on the woman, she desperately tries to seek justice. Thus begins a long road, in which there are many inconsistencies, but Anna herself becomes unsure of what she actually saw.
Throughout the book, we are also learning about the accident that Anna was in, and why it caused so much trauma.
I like the way the book was written. The information is doled out at a pace that makes it difficult to put down. Anna is definitely sympathetic, but unreliable, given she drinks heavily while on all her many medications (which she doesn't take as prescribed.) There is depth to the story, too much to describe here. The actual violent event doesn't happen until almost halfway through the book, but the buildup is crucial for the rest of the story to play out. I did suspect the "big twist" in the middle of the book, but only very close to when it was actually revealed. The twisted ending caught me totally by surprise. :)
The audiobook narrator, Ann Marie Lee, does an excellent job. I particularly liked when she was narrating an especially harrowing event -- she does a great job inciting fear.
If you enjoy psychological thrillers, and there seems to be a lot of good ones out there now, The Woman in the Window is worth your time. Teens who are interested in this genre will enjoy this one too, although it moves at a slower pace than many novels of this type.
Published by William Morrow, January 2, 2018, HarperAudio
Audiobook obtained from the library
448 pages
Rating: 4.5/5
I, too, really liked the slow build-up in this one. It left me off-kilter, wondering what was real and what wasn't and I LOVE that in a psychological thriller. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI liked this one too and definitely kept thinking about Hitchcock's Rear Window.
ReplyDeleteI thought this one was just okay, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. I do think teens will like this one as the chapters are short and I thought it moved pretty quickly.
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