The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

The Woman in the Window follows a former child psychologist, Anna Fox, who had been reduced to an alcoholic recluse after a traumatic incident that caused her to lose both her family and career. Additionally suffering from severe agoraphobia, she is physically unable to leave her house, where she has confined herself in for the past year. To pass the time, she watches black and white movies, plays chess, learns French, and obsessively watches her neighbours’ daily routine from the lens of her camera.

When the Russells move into the house across the street- father, mother and teenage son- they seem like the perfect family; and Anna is quickly transfixed by them. That is, until she sees something that she shouldn’t have. As she tries to report what she witnessed, she runs into many roadblocks- police are unwilling to believe her, questioning her to the point where even she begins to believe that she has hallucinated the whole thing.

Finn’s writing had allowed me to fully immerse myself into Anna’s frazzled mind as she tries to grapple with what is true and what isn’t, all the while dealing with her phobia and trying to overcome it. Even though she spends most of her time confined in her own home, repeating her daily routine through most of the book, I was still able to feel the suspense of the plot through short, fast chapters and the little interactions Anna has with others. Through the small details of her life, such as the video calls with her daughter, whom she misses dearly, and her love for old movies, as well as the challenges she faces, like the fear she feels if she ever tries to step out of the house, and the dilemma she feels when she tries to decipher whether what she saw was real and who will speak the truth, I was able to better sympathize with her, and all the while immersed in the sinister mystery that overshadows everything.

The book is a short read, written to finish in one or two sittings, and I would recommend it if you are short on time but would still love to feel the thrill of a mystery.

Chen Yu Yang

4T