The Girl in the Window by Penny Joelson

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 287

Publisher: Electric Monkey 

Released: 9th of August 2018 

Nothing ever happens on Kasia's street. And Kasia would know, because her illness makes her spend days stuck at home, watching the world from her bedroom window. So when she sees what looks like a kidnapping, she's not sure whether she can believe her own eyes . . . There was a girl in the window opposite - did she see something too? But when Kasia goes to find her she is told the most shocking thing of all. There is no girl. 

What I Have to Say 

A great story, raising awareness of how hard life can be when you have ME and live a mostly housebound (often bedbound) life and also how quiet streets can hold the darkest of secrets, but also the best of friends, The Girl in the Window has so much packed into it for just one short book. Although I found it didn't have as big an impact on me as I Have No Secrets did, I found it a really interesting and well written story of living with ME. 

What I really loved about this book was how kind and caring Kasia was. I've been housebound myself for a while with Agoraphobia, so though I don't know how it feels like to have ME, I do know what it's like to be trapped at home and the boredom and the pain of living within four walls that Kasia feels is so very accurate. But despite how small her world has gotten she still reaches out to her neighbour and offers so much kindness to the lonely old woman who lives next door, completely changing the woman's life with a pureness of heart that is so wonderful to see. And of course that's not the only person Kasia reaches out to, there's the mysterious girl in the window.... 

The mystery of the girl across the street isn't so dramatic as I Have No Secrets. There's no real danger towards Kasia until near the end of the book. Most of the core mystery is just looking out of the window wondering about the girl she catches glimpses of, but this doesn't make it too slow like it would with another book. I think partly because Kasia's life is slow, really slow. The nature of her illness makes it so that it has to be. And so you fall quickly into Kasia's routine. It adds to the feel of the novel rather than detracts from it. 

With this second fantastic book, Penny Joelson is fast becoming a favourite author of mine. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Electric Monkey for providing me with this copy for review.