#1 New York Times Bestseller – Soon to be a Major Motion Picture starring Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and Gary Oldman – Available on Netflix on May 14, 2021
“Astounding. Thrilling. Amazing.” —Gillian Flynn
“Unputdownable.” —Stephen King
“A dark, twisty confection.” —Ruth Ware
“Absolutely gripping.” —Louise Penny
For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most … Ware
“Absolutely gripping.” —Louise Penny
For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most anticipated debuts, to be published in thirty-six languages around the world and already in development as a major film from Fox: a twisty, powerful Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house.
It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock.
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As a grownup I have recently begun to feast my eyes on some thrillers for the first time. I have to say, I’m enjoying all the shock and all the twists. It’s that moment in the book where you’re reading and something is dropped heavy on you, revealed, and so you just stop. ALL you want to do is, of course, keep on reading and NOT STOP. But you literally stop. You take a moment to process, because wow, and then…you get back to the story as quickly as you can. But that’s the drop that I liked about this book. I had a couple of them, actually. There were also some keeper quotes to write in my book I keep as I read, because I loved the wording or the vision they gave me as I read.
Here are a few.
“This past summer, his music wandered toward the house, approached my living room, knocked politely on the glass: Let me in. I didn’t, couldn’t–I never open the windows, never–but still I could hear it murmuring, pleading: Let me in. Let me in!”
“It’s been so long since I felt the rain. Or wind–the caress of wind, I nearly said, except that sounds like something you’d read in a supermarket romance. It’s true, though.”
yank a breath from the air
The word barrels down my tongue, elbows other words aside. “Okay.”
I remember moving through the world the way you move through air.
we break the backs of leaves beneath us
I’m very interested in reading A.J.’s next book, and in awe that this was his very first! He’s got an off-the-chart great start, seems to me! Oh, and one more thought. I’ve also NEVER read a book about agoraphobia.
Lives up to all the hype. If you liked Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, you will love the Woman in the Window as much I did. The unreliable narrator is likable and well-written and the structure (precisely pivots the story with every ACT) is absolutely on point. If I were to offer any critique, it would be only this – the epilogue (6 weeks following the final climatic scene) wrapped her life and everyone’s reaction to what happened to clean and neat. I half expected—no wanted, definitely wanted—one last, “Gotcha again”. A minuscule disappointment from an amazing novel that otherwise delivered big.
Took awhile to get moving, but had a few surprising twists.
Great who dunit that keeps you guessing til the end.
Not what I thought it was going to be with an ending that totally surprised me.
I liked it although I think the story did drag a little with the day to day accounting of the main characters life. Other than that I found the twists and turns that the story took very interesting.
Like a lot of other readers–though hardly the majority–I am mystified by the popularity of this less-than-thrilling thriller. While it starts well, not only does the plot quickly becme transparent but the writing is second-rate, and the pacing turns deadly. I finished it but only because I was on a plane. In the notes-to-self list I keep for myself, I wrote just one word: forgettable.
If you like twist and turns you’ll enjoy this book. It was a bit predictable but if you want a qickly read this was.
Main character made me feel a variety of emotions and the book held my attention. Found myself curious about the truth and guessed it before the end, but that didn’t diminish the interest of the book!
Just when you think you know what’s going on, there’s another twist. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
I enjoyed this book so much. It was very unpredictable, just when you thought you had the story sussed and you thought you knew the outcome “boom” the game play changed.
Highly recommend this book
If entertaining and twisted is your thing, like mine, you will enjoy this.
This story kept me guessing. I had to keep reading to find out what was really going on.
not my thing
Really quick read, couldn’t put it down. Lots of “I didn’t see that coming” moments.
Wasn’t my favorite hard to read but half way through got better
A page-turner! Did not see that ending coming!
This was quite a thriller. I loved the premise – like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window – a woman witnesses a murder from her window. Or did she? The added complexity of a psychological diagnosis and more keep you guessing. Also loved all the classic movie references. The book should come with a list of those at the end for us to line up on our movie nights. Thanks for the great read!
The Woman in the Window, Dr. Anna Fox, is agoraphobic. She preoccupies herself with the neighborhood happenings. Who is where, and when? Her world is limited in scope to the view through her camera lens, with the exception of the rare visitor. Folks like the new neighbor boy who turns up to bring a welcome gift—only, aren’t the new neighbors supposed to be welcomed rather than welcoming?
Anna muses on that, briefly, but deep thought is interrupted by excessive drinking and pill popping. She self-medicates, though we don’t know what Dr. Anna’s issue is. All the reader knows is that she’s wronged her family in some way, and that her husband and daughter are elsewhere. It is, for me, the connection with Ed and Olivia that I liked best. When Anna sees, or thinks she sees, a murder in the new neighbor’s home, things get interesting…
AJ Finn has written an exceptional novel, brilliantly portraying Dr. Anna Fox as the damaged psychologist. The research is medically spot on and Anna is impeccably drawn, yet, I found the pacing somewhat self-indulgent. Excessive musings from Anna’s POV, which have nothing to do with the conflict or resolution, slow down an otherwise page-turning pace. Some aspects of the novel are telegraphed, while others, in the end, seem invented to wrap the plot.
I’d like to believe that Dr. Anna, who has helped so many folks through the Agora Internet website, could spot the “trouble” in her midst, even drunk or on drugs. Which brings me to a pet peeve: drinking and drugs as a convenient excuse. Readers who like The Girl on the Train will probably love The Woman in the Window. Well-written as it is, I’m torn as to how I feel about it overall. I see holes and the convenience of a drug and alcohol-addicted protag. While I can’t say I saw all the twist coming, I had figured the resolution would be something along the lines of what it was. I don’t want to spoil anything, but a woman who believes she’s gone mad can’t be all crazy, can she? And honestly, I’m really mad about the cat. If its leg truly was broken, it should’ve seen a vet.
Not one of my favorites but after 150 pages I didn’t want to put it down. Yes, that’s how long it took me to get into it.