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The Woman in the Window is a horror thriller with an emphasis on thriller. Yes, there are some quite horrific things that occur and numerous terrifying situations, but the real draw the book is how our protagonist, Sarah, responds to the terror in an authentic and humanly heroic manner. By humanly heroic, I mean she feels all the terror of one hounded by an apparently paranormal figure combined with the depression of someone who is not believed, yet she still fights on. Does she make some, shall we say, less than optimal choices? Oh yeah. Then again, so did I at her age and I didn’t have “the woman” haunting me. (Alas, all too often my decision making isn’t optimized for best rests.) Before I continue, let me disclose that the author is a friend and while that influenced whether I read the book or not, this book’s genre is not in my typical wheelhouse, I do not believe it influenced my evaluation of the book. Honestly, if I didn’t care for the book, I would’ve told my friend that it’s not my cup of tea, which, in this case, is true. But I’m delighted that I partook of this particular cup because it’s really a solid thriller.
Sarah is a high school teen girl with friends, a golden voice, boy troubles as well as challenges at home, but all within the norm. That all changes with the woman in the window. I want to stay spoiler free at this point, so I’ll keep my comments at a high-level. I loved the authentic, genuine feel around Sarah and her circumstances: what it would be like to be terrorized but disbelieved, ostracized and even more on the “out” than she already was. I’m not quite sure how the author pulled this off, given he is very much not a teenage girl, but kudos to him. R. S. Crow does a phenomenal job of building up just the right amount of tension over the life of the story; it builds and releases at just the right moments even as it escalates. He also has a supporting character I love, Dr. Tariq, who takes on the whole set of expectations of a ”professional counselor.” The notion of a disinterested scientific fix to a theoretically troubled mind is, I think, misleading at best. One of my favorite quotes, which is devoid of any significant spoilers is:
“‘Do you believe in God?’ It was the oddest question he could have possibly asked. “No. Not really. Do you?” “More than I believe in my own existence.” “I didn’t think psychiatrists were supposed to believe in God.” Dr. Tariq smirked at that. Smirked at me. “Ah, Sarah, do not be fooled by the seat I occupy as a psychiatrist. It is true, this profession entices intelligence, small faith, and even smaller imagination. I am a psychiatrist. Yes. Yet, each of us is quite different from one to the next, for we are only human after all. But do not permit the title to fool you. This labor, this practice, is one of subjectivity masked by objectivity, and while we may pretend to have the answers, we are simply men and women ourselves, and at times, we are no better than blind leaders of the blind, as one once said. So, Sarah, I ask again, do you believe in God?”
I also like Mr. Crow’s world building and story pacing; he keeps us moving while developing relationships and characters and filling out his world. I also appreciate the way that he takes on fear; he doesn’t over-sentimentalize its challenges but rather addresses it head on, in a no-nonsense way. Finally, I appreciate the notion that everything has a cost. Quite often in contemporary writing, authors are more than willing to allow bad stuff to occur and avoid a Disneyesque plot; sometimes, it seems that some of that pain and misery is fairly arbitrary. The woes in Mr. Crow’s world make sense; they are portrayed as a natural cost of what must be done.
There are some admittedly nit-picky areas where I would have taken a different path, but to discuss those I have to reveal spoilers so I will save it for a later section. Overall, I found The Woman in the Window a good, immersive read with a solid ride, authentic characters, and an intriguing paranormal world. Despite the horrors inflicted within, it’s really not about the horror, but how we handle our own fears. It does a great job in building the characters and their relationships even amongst those who inhabit the said paranormal world. Despite her foibles (or, maybe because of them), Sarah is a compelling and interesting protagonist who moves us to care about herself and her story.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any teen or adult who can handle the horror/thriller aspect.
Phrasing: 3/5
World Building: 4/5
Character: 3.5/5
Narrative: 3.5/5
A Little Book Music: This is the section where I suggest some music that matches the read. I spent a good deal of time listening to Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, Inception with its warping perspective. A little of the drive and ethereal nature of the book also comes through in his Interstellar soundtrack.
*****SPOILER ALERT – spoilers are revealed in this section.*****
So what are these admittedly nit-picky areas where I might make a different choice?
Once Sarah’s Mom comes to believe Sarah’s experiences with the woman in the window, why doesn’t she join the “team”? If we look at her responses when she didn’t believe, it’s clear that while she gives her daughter space, she is involved with her, she does care, and she will intervene to help protect her daughter. While we have a bit of an explanation for why she sits on the sidelines after she learns this is for real, it doesn’t seem to fit her earlier modus operandi or her character.
There’s a point where it appears that the witch is dead but apparently wasn’t fully dead (until after the burn). Unless that was on purpose, that was a little fuzzy.
While authenticity was a hallmark of the book, I’m not sure how realistic Clara’s reaction is when discovering Sarah will kill the woman, let alone place herself in that much danger again. Her ”go get ‘em” response seems a bit cavalier.
Finally, I felt a bit letdown after the buildup in Dr. Tariq’s office. While Sarah did operate on some of his advice and even tepidly attempted to pray, most of what occurred in that scene were wholly ignored for the rest the book. Now that may be a conscious decision. Surely teens in general sometimes don’t fully adopt adult advice especially when it doesn’t seem to work right away. It was just a bit of a letdown. It also could be that it will play a role later on in series, and it is a series. Even if it does come to the fore later, that still seems a little bit of a cheat but then again I think Agatha Christie cheats so the author is in good company.