By: Sharon Jerotich (jerotichsharon096@gmail.com
Thumbnail courtesy of thecoast.net.nz
The woman in the window is a New York bestseller with over a million copies sold worldwide. It was written by A.J. Finn, an editor and author. Now, a general rule is that the name of the book alone should be enough to draw readers in, the woman in the window did this for me.
The story is about a woman, Anna Fox, who has not left her home in 10 months she cannot. Anna has a rare condition known as agoraphobia, the fear of outside spaces or rather being in a situation where escape might be difficult.
This comes about after a series of events. In those ten months, she has been living like a ghost; watching movies, drinking wine (too much wine), remembering old and much better times, only allowing herself to live vicariously through the lives of her neighbours whom she spies on through her window every chance she gets. When her new neighbours, Russell’s move in next door, she is immediately drawn to them as it reminds her of the life she once had. However, everything is not as it seems in the Russel household, or is it?
After ten months of nothingness, her life begins to get complicated as it gets intertwined with that of the Russell’s. She is forced in positions that are otherwise uncomfortable for her especially with her case of agoraphobia.
Reading this book, all sorts of emotions run through you especially as the story untangles. You begin to realize just how twisted the lives of the various characters are. It is a classic story of, you do not know who the bad guy is and you will not be able to guess until you approach the end of the book. A.J. Finn managed to turn what started off as a sad, somewhat normal story into a thrilling, dumfounding one.
However, the book can get confusing, some might say too confusing. The story takes many twists and turns and one may end up giving up before reaching the end, which we all know, is always the best part. Therefore, if you have the patience to see this book to the end, I would recommend it. It is a good read that will have you sighing and at the edge of your seat very often.