A Window Opens, by Elisabeth Egan

A Window Opens
By Elisabeth Egan
Simon and Schuster
Four stars
Reviewed by Jessica Gribble

A Window Opens is a stellar example of what can be done with a genre novel; it’s a model of the “working mom” genre. Though the book won’t ever be thought of as classic literature, Elisabeth Egan makes good use of many of great literature’s important elements. The main character, Alice Pearse, looks for her identity throughout. The characters are believable and likeable. The frustrations and struggles of working while parenting are explored with humor and depth.

When Alice’s husband Nicholas doesn’t make partner at his law firm, he decides to hang his own shingle. Alice decides she should probably leave her comfortable part-time job as the books review editor at You to make more money. Out of the blue, she’s contacted by Genevieve Andrews, who follows Alice’s Twitter posts. Genevieve is the lead for the New York division of Scroll; she’s looking to hire “forward-thinking booklovers.” Alice is utterly thrilled to get the job working for Scroll, which will be a chain of reading lounges “reinvent[ing] the bookstore experience.” She’ll be a “discerning, community-minded taste-maker” who will “curate the e-book collection.” No “carbon-based books” here.

Of course, there’s more going on in this charming, funny novel than just a stylish new job for a woman who balances being a mom with her new career. While learning to live with her subway commute into the city (New York, of course), Alice wrestles with her feelings of guilt about leaving her three kids. “I thought of Margot and Oliver boogie boarding on Long Beach Island, their faces glowing as a wave deposited them on either side of Georgie, who squatted right at the water’s edge, dribbling sand on her ample thigh. Three giggling, salty little people with gigantic smiles and pruned fingers, fearless and fun—moments like this are the whole point of parenthood.”
Alice is concurrently dealing with her father’s decline. He’s been a loving, energetic part of the family, and Alice is forced to choose between making her new bosses happy and spending the needed time with her parents during difficult circumstances. Nicholas is struggling to establish his business, and he and Alice are at loggerheads as she tries to balance blame, guilt, and frustration. The downward arc of the fancy new job becomes apparent fairly soon, as the trendy and freewheeling atmosphere at Scroll turns out to be a façade hiding a domineering corporate culture.

Alice’s best friend, Susanna, owns an independent bookstore and is extremely displeased with Alice’s traitorous decision to work for Scroll. The kids are angry with Alice for not being available, even though they have an amazing nanny, Jessie, who helps with their homework, remembers to buy dog food, and is cheerful, young, and in a rock band. Alice measures herself against everyone else—her old and new colleagues, her parents, Susanna, Jessie, Nicholas—and tries to figure out who she is. Is she a mom? A worker? A daughter? How can she fit them all in?

Even though A Window Opensso closely parallels the stressful life of a working parent, its chatty tone and parenting humor make it a fun book to read on the beach—or on the train. If you’re a middle-class, white, working parent in the United States, this is your life. Maybe some of the details are a bit different, but you’re sure to see yourself here. It’s a relief that, by the end, things seem to be turning out well for Alice—this warm, familiar book reminds us that relationships matter and we’re all joined in a struggle to define ourselves while balancing busy, complex modern lives.