Welcome to the FFBC: THE WINDOW by Amelia Brunskill

The Window

by Amelia Brunskill
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 3, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis:

Anna is everything her identical twin is not. Outgoing and athletic, she is the opposite of quiet introvert Jess. The same on the outside, yet so completely different inside--it's hard to believe the girls are sisters, let alone twins. But they are. And they tell each other everything.

Or so Jess thought.

After Anna falls to her death while sneaking out her bedroom window, Jess's life begins to unravel. Everyone says it was an accident, but to Jess, that doesn't add up. Where was Anna going? Who was she meeting? And how long had Anna been lying to her?

Jess is compelled to learn everything she can about the sister she thought she knew. At first it's a way to stay busy and find closure . . . but Jess soon discovers that her twin kept a lot of secrets. And as she digs deeper, she learns that the answers she's looking for may be truths that no one wants her to uncover.

Because Anna wasn't the only one with secrets.

Hi Amelia!!  We’re so excited to have your book in our FFBC Tours, and can’t wait to ask you a couple of questions about your debut book, THE WINDOW!

Hi Michelle and Patricia! Thank you so much for having me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Favorite Book?

Smilla’s Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg. I love it so much. I love the mystery, I love the romance, I love how prickly the protagonist is, I love the setting. Also, there are passages that I’ve practically memorized because the language is beautiful.

Favorite TV show?

In terms of shows currently on the air, it would be a tie between Top Chef, because I’m a little obsessed with food, and Face Off, which is a reality competition about special effects make up. I really enjoy watching people create things!

Favorite movie?

Stranger than Fiction

Favorite Song?

Tell Me How, by Paramore

Favorite Food?

Pad See Ew. I love both Thai food and wide noodles with an epic passion.

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

Narnia: I feel like I’d get on really well with all the magical creatures, particularly Mr. Tumnus and the beavers. However, I’d only move there after they got that whole “forever winter” thing taken care of. 

The Shire: They would have to make me an extra large hobbit house though because I’m pretty tall. 

Themyscira: Being on the island of Amazon women that Wonder Woman comes from sounds pretty darn appealing. Although, if I couldn’t bring my husband, then maybe I would just commute there, M-F, 8-5, and then hang out with him in the evenings and on the weekend.

What were your favorite books growing up?

Anything by Roald Dahl, Dick King Smith, or Judy Blume. 

 Favorite Quote?

I sometimes get too caught up in the opinions of others, so I like this one a lot:

“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
—Virginia Woolf

What do you find yourself “Fangirling” over?

One of the YA authors in an online debut group that I’m part of, Dana Davis, also acts and she causally mentioned to the group that she had been in some episodes of Veronica Mars. I almost hyperventilated when I heard that, because Veronica Mars is one of my favorite shows of all time and now I feel like I am one degree closer to it.

 What recent book would you recommend to our YA fans?

This year, I’m falling in love with basically every debut novel that I read, but I don’t feel like I can pick one without naming a dozen others, so I will instead pick two books from last year that I really enjoyed:

The Truth Beneath the Lies, by Amanda Searcy. A super fun, super twisty thriller that I basically read in one sitting.

Wild Beauty, by Anna-Marie McLemore. Beautiful writing, gorgeous world building, just lovely and fascinating.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about THE WINDOW?

Sure!

Here is the short version:
After Jess Cutter’s twin sister, Anna, dies in what appears to be a tragic accident, Jess becomes obsessed with tracking down the identity of Anna’s secret boyfriend.

It’s a mystery/thriller that’s also about grief and identity.

What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? (Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of THE WINDOW.)

#twinsistersmystery 

#bestcoverever (I just really love it!)

#ohbabyno (my agent once said that she kept thinking this while reading my book 😊)

One thing that drew me to THE WINDOW was the twin element.  What are your fave tv shows/movies/books featuring twins?

Books: I just finished The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli, which is about twin sisters and also first relationships and insecurities. It was funny, sweet, and touching and I adored it. I also loved You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, by Rachel Solomon, which came out this year. It’s about twin sisters, one of whom is diagnosed with Huntington’s, and it shredded my heart in the best of ways. 

Films: I really enjoyed The Skeleton Twins, and I grew up with The Parent Trap (the Hayley Mills version) and Big Business (I have a huge soft spot for Bette Midler).

Tell us your favorite quote from THE WINDOW.

I want to tell you that I moved away immediately. Instead, it took full, long seconds—ones that stretched like caramel, crackling at the edges like burnt sugar.

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?  Or which part was the most difficult to get through?

The climax was the most difficult scene to write, because I wanted it to make sense but also have a high level of tension and not get overly dry and explain-y—so for a while it alternated between being way too long and then being shorter but confusing for anyone who wasn’t me.

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for THE WINDOW– Which one would you pick?

I will follow you into the dark, by Death Cab for Cutie. It’s beautiful, sad, and dark.

Are there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read THE WINDOW (specific music, snacks…)? 

I would recommend reading it on a comfy couch with soft pillows, beside a coffee table stacked high with lots of dark chocolate and salty snacks, and a large caffeinated drink so that you can just plow right on through it. 

What’s next for you? 

More writing! I’m currently working on a second YA mystery/thriller. 

Thanks so much for chatting with us!!

Thank you! This was a lot of fun!

Amelia Brunskill was born in Melbourne, Australia, but she grew up mostly in Washington state where she picked a lot of blackberries, read a lot of books, and failed to properly appreciate the epic beauty of the mountains and the Pacific ocean. 

She earned her bachelors degrees in psychology and art from the University of Washington and her master in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She now lives in Chicago, where she eats as much Thai food as possible and works as a librarian. 

The Window is her debut novel. 

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