Window Watchers

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Looking out windows can be a deadly pastime. As we saw in Alfred Hitchcock’s renowned movie Rear Window. In his debut novel, A.J. Finn added another layer of intrigue by making the protagonist traumatized and suffering from PTSD, which prevents her from leaving her home and making her an agoraphobic.

The protagonist, Anna Fox, not only suffers from agoraphobia but is also heavily medicated washing down many different pills with bottles of Merlot. Can you trust anything she hears or sees?

The unreliable narrator is nothing new to fiction but seems to be popular among current writers. The reader knows within the first few pages that Anna cannot be trusted. But we like her. The author has created a likeable character that we emphasize with. Anna draws us into her crazy life. We want to know why? And slowly, the story unfolds.

By the time the reader finds out what traumatized Anna, we are even more conflicted. Did she see those things she phoned the police about? We so want her to be vindicated. Her pain is piercing. Enough is enough. Or is her mind shattered irrevocably not able to understand what is happening around her? (more…)