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3.5 

Come to the Window: A Novel

By Howard Norman
Come to the Window: A Novel by Howard Norman digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A drama of murder, love, and redemption set in Nova Scotia in the final year of World War I.

It’s 1918. The war in Europe grinds on, and the Spanish flu seems to be on an insatiable killing spree. But in the small fishing village of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, a more confined drama—harrowing and provocative—slowly unfolds. It begins when Elizabeth Frame murders her husband hours after their wedding and thrusts the revolver into the blowhole of a beached whale.

Crime reporter Toby Havenshaw is dispatched by the Halifax Evening Mail to cover the hearing, and his diary subsequently follows the surprising twists and turns of Elizabeth Frame’s flight from the law, accompanied as she is by a love-besotted court stenographer. But Toby’s diary also paints a vivid and deeply affecting portrait of his marriage to Amelia, a surgeon just returned from the front lines in France and Belgium. When a child is born to Elizabeth Frame on the lam, Amelia is drawn into events in ways she could never have imagined. And then everything changes.

Come to the Window explores a question both universal and timeless: How does one recover hope in a time of great bewilderment and grief?

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9 Reviews

3.5
“This was an interesting book. A quick read, being under 200 pages. Although not a beach read, I enjoyed reading it by the pool. There’s a lot in this book about shell shock and PTSD. So many suffered thanks to the First World War and the Spanish Flu. I spent a lot of time trying to get into Elizabeth’s head, wondering what possessed her to do the things that she did, manipulating the men in her life, murder and running from the law. Toby tells the story, but I was more intrigued by his wife, Amelia. A woman as a surgeon in the early 20th century, such an uncommon thing. She also suffered from PTSD thanks to her time treating soldiers and helping with the Spanish Flu. Thank you Bibliolifestyle and W.W. Norton for my gifted copy of this book.”
“We already know who the killer is in Come To the Window. There’s no mystery hiding within these pages. What’s perplexing is the motive. Why did Elizabeth Frame shoot and kill her husband on their wedding night? And why did she push the murder weapon into the blowhole of a beached whale? I once heard someone say, “A book doesn’t owe us any answers,” and I’m pretty sure I agree. Perhaps there are times when I’m disappointed with what an author refuses to tell me. I can’t think of specific examples at this moment. But if what I want to know keeps me turning the page, and if I do not end up getting what I was looking for, it doesn’t mean what I do receive can’t be equally satisfying. Despite its dark premise and bloody cover, Come to the Window is actually a quiet literary beauty. It isn’t about Elizabeth Frame as much as it is about Toby, a reporter investigating her case, and his wife, Amelia, a surgeon whose work is affected by The Great War and The Spanish Flu. The curious murder has an impact upon their lives, and it doesn’t really stand as a background player, but it isn’t the strongest thread that holds this tale together. This is not a book of answers. It is a book of hope during hopeless times. Yes, hope, despite opening with a wedding night tragedy. It’s a book that brings the reader to unexpected places, with gasp-inducing surprises around almost every corner, and a tone of gentle intellect. All of this, you may find, is better than simply getting the answers you seek. I am immensely grateful to Bibliolifestyle and W.W. Norton and Company for my copy. All opinions are my own.”

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