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?
Plotting is tight in this novel. It moves quickly, a fast read. We talked about this at book club. It’d easy to condemn Anna, but the author made her vulnerable in need of our aid. We liked her more than she liked herself. We forgave her transgression way before she was able to forgive herself. Forgiveness is such a powerful tool to healing. We talked at book club about that power. Forgiving and moving on sound so easy but we find them very difficult. We hold on too tight and long, and to little or not avail.
Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. Joan Lunden
Laughter is so much better than a sore jaw! We enjoyed this book, and for a thriller it did give us some discussions besides the main whodunit!
Rating: 7.5