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The Woman in the Wall Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Woman in the Wall


Anna is a very small and very shy 7-year old who panics when her mother tells her that she has to go to school! Anna's mother has let Anna stay home two extra years because of her small size, so Anna knows that her mother means what she says. After Anna is traumatized by the school psychologist's visit to her home, Anna begins to make a place where she can stay within the walls of the house, and thus avoid going to school. Without really realizing it, Anna lives within the walls of her house for seven years, watching her family and her family's friends through peepholes she has made, and seeing the changes in herself. As time goes by, Anna realizes she is lonely, and starts wondering what life would be if she had a normal life. When she finds a note in a crack in the wall, addressed only to “A,” Anna thinks the note is to herself, and begins contact with someone in the outside world. This can become the catalyst for Anna to join the outside world again, if Anna will let it.
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The review of this Book prepared by Crystal




    Anna is a shy, thin girl who is barely visible because she blends into the walls of her huge Victorian house. Her mother, older sister Andrea, and her younger sister Kirsty, barely pay any attention to her because she never likes to talk. But when her mother is sending her to school, Anna hides within the walls of the house and comes out only at night to eat when everybody is sleeping.
    Some mysterious letters from a body named "F" appear in the cracks of her territories, and is actually love letters for Anna's older sister, Andrea, but Anna mistakingly thinks that they are for her because they are always titled as "Dear A,..." She always replies to him and continues to live in the walls for seven years!
    Later on, Francis ("F") realizes that it isn't Andrea that was replying, and that it was someone else. So he goes into the walls and meets Anna, who hasn't talked to a person for seven years. Francis brings Kirsty, and together they decide to take Anna to the halloween party that Andrea is planning as Kirsty's "friend." Anna, forced, goes to the party with a neon green moth outfit, and everybody stares at her. Her mother and Andrea figure out that Anna is at the party and chase her. They are reunited and Anna can actually be seen. Anna lives in the house, and decides that school doesn't sound so bad after all, at the age of fourteen.
The review of this Book prepared by Jane Song



Chapter Analysis of The Woman in the Wall

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Plot & Themes

Tone of book?    -   upbeat    -   thoughtful Time/era of story    -   1980's-1999    -   2000+ (Present Day) Kids growing up/acting up?    -   Yes Internal struggle/realization?    -   Yes Struggle over    -   eccentric nature Is this an adult or child's book?    -   Age 11-14 Age group of kid(s) in story:    -   grade school

Main Character

Gender    -   Female Profession/status:    -   unemployed Age:    -   a teen Ethnicity/Nationality    -   White (American) Unusual characteristics:    -   Super sensitive soggy jelly muffin

Setting

How much descriptions of surroundings?    -   5 () United States    -   Yes City?    -   Yes Small town?    -   Yes Small town people:    -   nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee

Writing Style

Amount of dialog    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog    -   significantly more descript than dialog

Books with storylines, themes & endings like The Woman in the Wall

Patrice Kindl Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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