Anna Fox suffers from agoraphobia and lives by herself in an East Harlem townhouse. Her husband left her and took their daughter with him, but Anna stays in communication with them. She spends her time -- in addition to heavy drinking and pill popping -- watching her neighbors, including a couple across the way who have a troubled teenage son, Ethan. One afternoon Anna is helped by, and gets to know, Ethan's mother, Jane, but some time later she appears to see Jane being stabbed through the window of the other building. However, the police think it is all an alcoholic, drug-influenced fantasy. Ethan's mother shows up -- and is a completely different woman from the one Anna met before. The Woman in the Window is well-written and it initially holds your attention, but the twists in the story -- and the identity of the true villain -- are so obvious that it pretty much ruins your enjoyment of the novel and you're just turning pages to get it over with. There are way too many recycled ideas in the book, but once it got bought for the movies (on Netflix, at least) it was destined for bestseller-hood. Serious fans of mystery and suspense books will find this a major disappointment.
Verdict: Badly overhyped -- paging Agatha Christie. **1/4.
Did not know that recent Netflix film was based on a book. The movie was not great, but watchable.
ReplyDeleteYes, that/s what I've heard.
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