"I can feel the outside trying to get in—isn’t that how Lizzie put it? It’s swelling against the door, bulging its muscles, battering the wood; I hear its breath, its nostrils steaming, its teeth grinding. It will trample me; it will tear me; it will devour me."
After reading average psychological thrillers such as The Wife Between Us, The Au Pair and Sometimes I Lie, reading The Woman in the Window was an experience I had expected for too long. Suspenseful, moving and with a strong grip that does not let go, this novel is the perfect story of mystery, delusion and redemption. It thrives on details which ultimately give a glorious resolution to the mystery.
PLOT
We make many assumptions at the beginning of the book. Slowly, each one of them are discarded as we enter into Dr. Anna Fox's life.
She is a child psychologist. She is smart, curious and cunning. Most importantly: she is agoraphobic and a voyeur. Those seem to be two main characteristics that define her. We are introduced to a woman obsessed with other people's lives, unable to leave her house, her only pastime being talking to strangers in the internet, people with the same disorder as herself, and watching suspense movies in black and white. She is separated from her husband and daughter who are away.
New neighbors arrive at the same block, The Russells (Alistair and Ethan). Anna gets along with Ethan who is a teenage boy who feels oppressed by his parents, and later she meets Jane, Ethan's mother. Some time goes by and one day, Anna hears a scream across the street. When she confronts her tenant, David, and Ethan, whose house was where the scream originated, she believes she is victim of a delusion, paranoia caused by the films she adores; that, until one day, when she had so much to drink and took too much medication, she spies the Russells and discovers Jane has been stabbed.
Anna fights against her fear of outdoors to rescue Jane who drags herself across the garden. Anna has a major panic attack while trying to help her neighbor. Hours later, she wakes up in a hospital, completely paralyzed with fear, unable to describe her mental illness as well as what she has seen.
Detective Little interviews her and takes her home as she unsuccessfully tries to explain to the officers what happened: the crime she witnessed. At home, feeling in a safe place, she explains to the officers the truth as Alistair Russell shows up. She reveals he killed his wife. The officers declare they found her all alone, victim of a nervous breakdown.
Anna accuses Alistair of killing Jane, as Jane Russell appears, a woman completely different to the Jane that Anna had met. The officers ignore Anna and imply she was hallucinating.
Anna is desperate to demonstrate that she is telling the truth as she tries to get close to Ethan to discover what happened that terrible night. At the same time, it seems somebody is harassing her at home after she receives a photo of herself sleeping. She calls the officers who dismiss her accusations as it is once again demonstrated that her evidence may have been made up by herself. However, this time she has proof of Jane's existence: a picture Jane draw of Anna the very day they met. The officers say she could have done it herself as well as a harsh truth is exposed: Anna's husband and daughter are really dead and she has been lying all along about them being away. This destroys Anna's credibility and her own confidence. She now also believes she is delusional.
However, after so much drinking and contemplating the lack of purpose in her life, Anna recovers her strength to continue investigating. She tries to get in touch with Ethan to talk sense to him, to make him confess the truth to the police. This provokes his father, Alistair who threatens Anna for interfering with something that is not her business. This finally confirms to Dr. Fox that Alistair is guilty as sin.
A final proof comes to Anna: a photograph she took days ago where the real Jane can be seen. She talks to Ethan who reveals the truth: Alistair killed the woman who called herself Jane, but her actual name was Katie, Ethan's biological and junkie mother. She had tried to take him back and his mother, the real Jane, killed her in order to prevent her from taking him with her. Ethan asks for mercy as Anna gives him a chance to speak to his parents so they can turn themselves in. Anna knows what is like to lose a family, she does not want the same for Ethan who goes home and does not come back.
Anna goes to sleep, confident that the secrets have been unraveled, but a final detail strikes her as she discovers she might have been wrong after all.
STRUCTURE
The novel is deliciously sober with a very fluid narration. It is slow-paced and has a grip that does not let go. First, we dwell into Anna's everyday life and struggle, later on, we get to discover her past as she tries to decipher if she is truly going insane or not. It is fabulous how her dark past is intertwined with the current events, one is always hooked either to discover what made her become agoraphobic or if Jane's murder did really take place or was part of her imagination.
THEMES
The novel per se is a splendid homage to thrillers with different dialogues and scenes that juxtapose with Anna's life and eventual crisis.
Mental illness is discussed thoroughly with Anna's PTSD and agoraphobia, both consequences of a tragic accident that ended with the lives of her loved ones. It is a sad but enlightening view into her psyche.
ABOUT THE ENDING:
The revelation about Alistair being the murdered made complete sense, but once Ethan was presented as the real mastermind, I wondered if this would actually pull off, but I am glad it did.
The final persecution between Anna and Ethan is one of the best narrations ever, with shocking and disturbing imagery that reminisce of a classic horror movie. It was a wild ride and worthwhile.
CHARACTER: 8/10
PLOT DEVELOPMENT: 10/10
THEMES: 10/10
GRADE: Must-Read
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