Book Review: The Woman in the Window

I started this 427 page thriller just two days before the library due date. Wouldn't have really mattered! I blazed through it in no time flat. It was an absolutely riveting page-turner. The writing flawlessly sucked me in and held me fast.

With a premise similar to Hitchcock's Rear Window, The Woman in the Window plays on the idea of a peeping-Tom who observes a crime through a neighbor's window. Former child psychologist Anna Fox lives alone, trapped in her Harlem house by crippling symptoms of agoraphobia. She has little to bide her time and much on her mind. She spends most of her time photographing what she sees out of her window and thinking about her estranged husband and daughter. In gradual increments, the reader learns Anna's secrets - what caused the separation, what triggered the agoraphobia, and what now propels Anna to get so involved in the neighbor's lives and affairs. But, always, the reader is left to wonder whether the narrator is really reliable. After all, she drowns her sorrows continually in alcohol and pills.

I really enjoyed A.J. Finn's writing style. Words were clearly chosen with care. Here are a few of the passages that truly sing: "A storm. The ash tree cowers, the limestone glowers, dark and damp. I remember dropping a glass onto the patio once; it burst like a bubble, merlot flaring across the ground and flooding the veins of the stonework, black and bloody, crawling toward my feet." What a powerful, well-worded image! At other times it was simply the play with words that delighted. "The glow blossoms, the blossoms glow." "Wedged in the library wingback, thoughts tumble-drying in my brain." "The phone lies there immobile. An immobile mobile."

Finn sets the scenes so well. The atmosphere is dark and dismal. The players strut across the stage presenting lines to mimic the old black-and-white movies Anna uses to dull the pain. Moreover, the pacing of the plot is frantic. Just when you think it is all wrapped up, the mystery picks up again with another unnoticed clue, another avenue to explore. I did think the story could have functioned perfectly well without the one sex scene, but modern writers seem to feel every book should have one. Plus, it took over 100 pages to actually introduce the crime; nonetheless, it kept me reading, waiting to know what was going to happen.

I tend to approach mysteries with Agatha Christie's rule in mind. I attended a Christie play once and heard in the pre-play commentary, that Christie usually addressed the dilemma of "whodunit" by asking herself which character seemed to be the least likely suspect. I also think about details very carefully. When an author introduces a minor character and puts particular words in their mouth, it is always for a reason, so I take note. Thus, I did guess the perpetrator long before the mystery was solved and had a good idea of how they managed to pull it off. Still, it was every bit as fun getting to the final sentences. I can see why there's quite a buzz about this debut novel. The author blurb on Amazon indicates that the book is being made into a movie and the author would like to have a cameo appearance. Ha!