She believed Ethan was a good kid but also sensed that he was afraid of his controlling father. Before Anna’s disorder locked her in her house, Anna had a successful practice working with children. When Ethan first visited Anna, bringing a candle he said was from his mother, the psychiatrist in her woke up. She met once a week with her psychiatrist, who warned her not to drink alcohol with her medications, and with a physical therapist, who encouraged her not to drink so much alcohol. She drank merlot she spied on her neighbors across the street she drank merlot she played chess on the internet she drank merlot she counseled people on a computer site for people suffering with agoraphobia she drank merlot she watched black-and-white movies, and she drank merlot. Until the Russell family moved in across the street Anna’s life had a comfortable pattern. When the truth is finally revealed, Anna discovers that she has a reason to live despite all the trauma life has dealt her. They base their refusal to believe her on her denial that her husband and daughter were killed in a car wreck. Anna continues to be plagued with strange things happening - like her phone code being changed and a picture of herself sleeping being emailed to her from Jane Russell - but the police convince her that she is doing all of these things to herself. The Russells claim nothing happened and Anna is presented with a woman who claims to be Jane Russell, Ethan’s mother. Because she drinks and takes medication for her psychological disorder that causes hallucinations, the police believe Anna only imagined she saw a murder. Anna is also visited by Ethan’s mother, a woman Anna later believes she sees stabbed to death in the Russells’ home across the street.

Finn things are not as they appear when a teen boy, Ethan Russell, befriends an agoraphobic woman, Anna Fox, after moving to Anna’s Harlem neighborhood. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Finn, A.J.

Woman on the window book