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Looking Through Windows
80,869 (approximate)
Everything can change in a second and nothing is ever the same.
Emily had to rebuild her life… her sense of self. How far would she go to hold onto a dream?
Emily Warner moves to Vermont hoping for a fresh start. Anything to forget the past four years. She didn’t plan on the past finding her. And she didn’t plan on Ann Hight. Ann helps Emily through a crisis, and re-awakens emotions Emily thought she would never experience again. For Ann, what she begins to feel for Emily promises everything she never knew she needed. Just when it seems they’ve found the love they’ve yearned for, fate conspires to tear them apart. Even if they can somehow hang on despite all the obstacles thrown at them, Emily still has to face the biggest obstacle of all – herself.
“Like an onion, peel away the layers. Might make you cry but ultimately like a Vidalia – it’s sweet.” – Rita Mae Brown
Everything can change in a second and nothing is ever the same.
Emily had to rebuild her life… her sense of self. How far would she go to hold onto a dream?
Emily Warner moves to Vermont hoping for a fresh start. Anything to forget the past four years. She didn’t plan on the past finding her. And she didn’t plan on Ann Hight. Ann helps Emily through a crisis, and re-awakens emotions Emily thought she would never experience again. For Ann, what she begins to feel for Emily promises everything she never knew she needed. Just when it seems they’ve found the love they’ve yearned for, fate conspires to tear them apart. Even if they can somehow hang on despite all the obstacles thrown at them, Emily still has to face the biggest obstacle of all – herself.
“Like an onion, peel away the layers. Might make you cry but ultimately like a Vidalia – it’s sweet.” – Rita Mae Brown
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
20 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Caren J. Werlinger
22 books296 followersFrom the author's website: Bestselling author Caren Werlinger published her first award-winning novel, Looking Through Windows, in 2008. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels, winning several more awards. Influenced by a diverse array of authors, including Rumer Godden, J.R.R. Tolkein, Ursula LeGuin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Willa Cather and the Brontë sisters, Caren writes literary fiction that features the struggles and joys of characters readers can identify with. Her stories cover a wide range of genres: historical fiction, contemporary drama, and fantasy, including the award-winning Dragonmage Saga, a fantasy trilogy set in ancient Ireland. Most recently, she created the magical setting of Little Sister Island (a place she and her readers wish were real) in When the Stars Sang and Face the Wind.
She lives in Virginia with her wife and their canine fur-children.
She lives in Virginia with her wife and their canine fur-children.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 17, 2019
This again proves why relying on unknown people's reviews can be very unreliable.
This came out to be a successful read, emotional and emotionally shocking on some parts. Pretty PG and that can be forgiven🙄.
Now this was sort of written in such a way that i thought it was based in the years when being gay would be tremendously and understandably unacceptable but when I later realised this was published in the millennium I had to wonder what era the author was hoping to communicate.
This came out to be a successful read, emotional and emotionally shocking on some parts. Pretty PG and that can be forgiven🙄.
Now this was sort of written in such a way that i thought it was based in the years when being gay would be tremendously and understandably unacceptable but when I later realised this was published in the millennium I had to wonder what era the author was hoping to communicate.
April 4, 2018
2.5 stars
This is a difficult book to review. I’ve read other books by Werlinger, but this is a dud and I feel obliged to warn people about it. I struggled to read it all the way through, nearly giving up on several occasions. I understand this is Werlinger’s first book, so read the others and avoid this would be my recommendation.
Emily can’t trust anyone. Her girlfriend of 8 years was in an accident, and Caroline’s hostile family wouldn’t let Emily visit or say goodbye when she died. Having to keep it secret from everyone, including Emily’s own family, has left her estranged and isolated, so her grief became overwhelming.
Ann comes from an open-minded and comfortable background. After years abroad working with the Peace Corps, she is home to study. When their paths cross, inevitable considering Emily is now one of Ann’s teachers, their attraction becomes obvious and unavoidable.
This could have been the start of a simple romance about Emily learning to trust again, and Ann working out her new identity and coming out to family and friends. However, the author has made sure the plot was trampled by a stampede of coincidences, each more unlikely than the last.
I won’t bore you with the details of the ridiculous and complicated plot. Suffice to say, there are far too many twists and turns to be bothered with, and not enough exploration of the impact any of it has on the characters. It would have been much better to simplify the plot, and really deal in more depth with the issues at play, namely Emily’s shattered trust in humanity, her distant relationship with her family, Ann’s realisation and coming out, and an issue completely ignored by the author, the disparity in status and power in the relationship as one is teacher and the other is student.
Instead there is a cavalcade of miscommunication, obstruction by bit players, cancer, leg amputation, overseas jobs, letters stolen, arguments started and people storming out, etc. etc. etc. All of this was written as a play by numbers book rather than one that explored the complexities of life. I wonder if the author was so busy trying to manage the plot that she forgot that romance is all about the relationships.
As for the secondary characters, and there were a lot of them, Werlinger has created some interesting bit players. There was perhaps a bit too much of them, for the sort of book that it was. What was nice was that most were very supportive of the main characters and their relationship. In fact, it got a little creepy at one point with parents acting as spokespeople for the main characters because the two main characters were so incapable of just sitting in a room and having a f*cking conversation.
The other book I ready by Werlinger was significantly better than this one. It still had that slightly distancing language, and not enough that drew me into the characters, but the plotting and the secondary characters was much better managed and it was a more enjoyable read.
This is a difficult book to review. I’ve read other books by Werlinger, but this is a dud and I feel obliged to warn people about it. I struggled to read it all the way through, nearly giving up on several occasions. I understand this is Werlinger’s first book, so read the others and avoid this would be my recommendation.
Emily can’t trust anyone. Her girlfriend of 8 years was in an accident, and Caroline’s hostile family wouldn’t let Emily visit or say goodbye when she died. Having to keep it secret from everyone, including Emily’s own family, has left her estranged and isolated, so her grief became overwhelming.
Ann comes from an open-minded and comfortable background. After years abroad working with the Peace Corps, she is home to study. When their paths cross, inevitable considering Emily is now one of Ann’s teachers, their attraction becomes obvious and unavoidable.
This could have been the start of a simple romance about Emily learning to trust again, and Ann working out her new identity and coming out to family and friends. However, the author has made sure the plot was trampled by a stampede of coincidences, each more unlikely than the last.
I won’t bore you with the details of the ridiculous and complicated plot. Suffice to say, there are far too many twists and turns to be bothered with, and not enough exploration of the impact any of it has on the characters. It would have been much better to simplify the plot, and really deal in more depth with the issues at play, namely Emily’s shattered trust in humanity, her distant relationship with her family, Ann’s realisation and coming out, and an issue completely ignored by the author, the disparity in status and power in the relationship as one is teacher and the other is student.
Instead there is a cavalcade of miscommunication, obstruction by bit players, cancer, leg amputation, overseas jobs, letters stolen, arguments started and people storming out, etc. etc. etc. All of this was written as a play by numbers book rather than one that explored the complexities of life. I wonder if the author was so busy trying to manage the plot that she forgot that romance is all about the relationships.
As for the secondary characters, and there were a lot of them, Werlinger has created some interesting bit players. There was perhaps a bit too much of them, for the sort of book that it was. What was nice was that most were very supportive of the main characters and their relationship. In fact, it got a little creepy at one point with parents acting as spokespeople for the main characters because the two main characters were so incapable of just sitting in a room and having a f*cking conversation.
The other book I ready by Werlinger was significantly better than this one. It still had that slightly distancing language, and not enough that drew me into the characters, but the plotting and the secondary characters was much better managed and it was a more enjoyable read.
June 4, 2016
I hate when I don't like a book enough to not finish it and yet being somewhat unable to pin down the reasons I don't like it.
Something here doesn't work. I'm not a fan of the writing style. On the one hand it's overly descriptive, sometimes down to minute details. I hardly ever have the need to edit something I'm reading, but here I used my imaginary red pen excessively, crossing out entire paragraphs. Then there's the tone, and here I have problems pinning it down. I don't think the setting of the story is specified, time-wise. I assume it takes place in the present, and yet, there's a decidedly 50s feel to it. Kind of a happy place, yet the entire time, also thanks to the blurb, bad things are looming. This gives it a decidedly melodramatic feel, just like a 1940/50s melodramatic movie. It's just too much.
I certainly don't need happy books, I can deal with most everything you throw my way, but apparently I draw the line at too much melodrama.
I never quite got a feel for the characters, they didn't have distinct voices.
Overall, the novel lacks life. It's all very generic and planned out but doesn't draw me in at all.
Something here doesn't work. I'm not a fan of the writing style. On the one hand it's overly descriptive, sometimes down to minute details. I hardly ever have the need to edit something I'm reading, but here I used my imaginary red pen excessively, crossing out entire paragraphs. Then there's the tone, and here I have problems pinning it down. I don't think the setting of the story is specified, time-wise. I assume it takes place in the present, and yet, there's a decidedly 50s feel to it. Kind of a happy place, yet the entire time, also thanks to the blurb, bad things are looming. This gives it a decidedly melodramatic feel, just like a 1940/50s melodramatic movie. It's just too much.
I certainly don't need happy books, I can deal with most everything you throw my way, but apparently I draw the line at too much melodrama.
I never quite got a feel for the characters, they didn't have distinct voices.
Overall, the novel lacks life. It's all very generic and planned out but doesn't draw me in at all.
June 15, 2021
Wow
I have stumbled on this author and cannot put her books down when I start. This book brought back a lot of gosts from my past but wow, brilliant. She carches emotions in words that is unbelievable. I am promoting her books to all my friends. Looking through windows also reminded me what my partner went through with her cancer.
I have stumbled on this author and cannot put her books down when I start. This book brought back a lot of gosts from my past but wow, brilliant. She carches emotions in words that is unbelievable. I am promoting her books to all my friends. Looking through windows also reminded me what my partner went through with her cancer.
January 31, 2019
Two people meet and both need to learn how to trust each other.
The author has created a believable story about what it means to communicate and trust someone with their heart. The struggles the two have ,cancer being one of them was one barrier to overcome. Enjoy!
The author has created a believable story about what it means to communicate and trust someone with their heart. The struggles the two have ,cancer being one of them was one barrier to overcome. Enjoy!
June 1, 2018
Good book
I enjoyed reading this story and I loved the characters. I can't imagine all the emotions that Emily had gone through to even think about loving Ann in the first place. Then after everything that happened. Wow.
I enjoyed reading this story and I loved the characters. I can't imagine all the emotions that Emily had gone through to even think about loving Ann in the first place. Then after everything that happened. Wow.
October 26, 2018
Captivating
Love this read it was so nearly written. Emily and Ann reminded me of my wife and I. What a great read!
Love this read it was so nearly written. Emily and Ann reminded me of my wife and I. What a great read!
April 9, 2015
This is such an odd book. The author goes into minute detail about meals, clothing, and activities of the characters but rarely allows full scenes to play out in conversation. It's almost as though she summarizes the dialogue but then draws out all of the ancillary details of the room. It's a strange mix. There are also conversations or events that never actually make it into the story--but in actuality have huge bearing on the plot. One example is a character's chronic knee pain which is never mentioned until a particular event two thirds of the way through the book. Although I finished the book, I quickly gave up caring out the outcome the moment the drama relies upon me assuming a little invention called the telephone was never invented. From there the story rides the crazy train of a telenovela. And one last pet peeve of mine...if you don't know about wine, please don't write about it. White Zinfandel is not a romantic wine, nor one someone would use to pick up a woman who isn't 16.
October 5, 2018
Powerful message in this book, Wow!
This book is a must read for all lesbian couples, it is the true meaning of tolerance, forgiving and the true meaning of a loving relationship. You really scored an honor as a great writer on this one Carol. Thanks!
This book is a must read for all lesbian couples, it is the true meaning of tolerance, forgiving and the true meaning of a loving relationship. You really scored an honor as a great writer on this one Carol. Thanks!
May 11, 2014
I like She Sings of Old, Unhappy, Far-off Things a lot better. It seems the author's style of writing has progressed and matured over her works.
September 18, 2017
Liked it very much!
Intense, surprising and a good read, kept my attention throughout!
Love her style of writing, always keeps me off guard and guessing!
Intense, surprising and a good read, kept my attention throughout!
Love her style of writing, always keeps me off guard and guessing!
December 3, 2017
I am a fan of Caren Werlinger. I like her writing style and especially how she lays out the story, the setting and of course the characters. Her stories are typically emotional, with some to lost of angst. I am usually thinking throughout about how the unexpected can happen at anytime in our lives. Her reads also have me thinking about the beautiful yet powerful emotion of love. Emily Warner is heart broken carrying bucket loads of pain. Ann Hight is emotionally unsettled until she finds that special someone and when she does, she hold on for the challenging rollercoaster ride through the tunnel of love.
October 7, 2021
It is hard to navigate this life and all the insecurities it can bring. Being in present to life means being vunerable.
While I can say I loved these characters I admit to being sad that they were not together for most of the story. Life kept throwing such crap that it was hard to find space for their love. I need a book 2 so I can enjoy the deep love they share. I will say that with all Emily went through and Ann trying to accept herself in this love she feels the story had a lot of ups and downs. It is important to decide if you can be strong enough to embrace not just look through life. The angst was difficult at times but i could not put it down.
While I can say I loved these characters I admit to being sad that they were not together for most of the story. Life kept throwing such crap that it was hard to find space for their love. I need a book 2 so I can enjoy the deep love they share. I will say that with all Emily went through and Ann trying to accept herself in this love she feels the story had a lot of ups and downs. It is important to decide if you can be strong enough to embrace not just look through life. The angst was difficult at times but i could not put it down.
January 2, 2020
Werlinger delivers again!
I am randomly working my way through Werlinger’s novels and loving them. This story had a couple of twists that came so unexpectedly I gasped, and that’s a good thing. I adore the scenery, characters, and time periods the author writes about and I appreciate how she integrates poetry and art and language into so much of her work. Love stories with layers!
I am randomly working my way through Werlinger’s novels and loving them. This story had a couple of twists that came so unexpectedly I gasped, and that’s a good thing. I adore the scenery, characters, and time periods the author writes about and I appreciate how she integrates poetry and art and language into so much of her work. Love stories with layers!
April 20, 2025
the reviews on this book are incredibly harsh.
at the time it was written it was rather common to swap POVs in the middle of a chapter with no warning and whilst this is less common now and i understand it’s annoying it doesn’t automatically make a book unreadable.
this is a beautiful story of love and loss and whilst at times it seems like the plot is very outlandish that doesn’t detract away from the beauty of the love story at its centre.
at the time it was written it was rather common to swap POVs in the middle of a chapter with no warning and whilst this is less common now and i understand it’s annoying it doesn’t automatically make a book unreadable.
this is a beautiful story of love and loss and whilst at times it seems like the plot is very outlandish that doesn’t detract away from the beauty of the love story at its centre.
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April 12, 2022Superb!
Werlinger is a superb writer, whose tales are woven with great skill. Her characters experience dilemmas you and I might face in our lives, prompting us to ponder if we would have the strength to overcome ugliness or adversity. I’ll read anything by Caren Werlinger!
Werlinger is a superb writer, whose tales are woven with great skill. Her characters experience dilemmas you and I might face in our lives, prompting us to ponder if we would have the strength to overcome ugliness or adversity. I’ll read anything by Caren Werlinger!
February 14, 2020
I was deeply moved by Emily and Ann's story. So much tenderness and heartbreak. It was exquisite and I will reread it for sure.
March 27, 2021
The plot wasn't bad at all, but I just didn't like the writing style. But that's just my personal preference. If you like this author I can definitely recommend this book :)
September 12, 2022
A quite stunning book that was an emotional roller-coaster. Totally loved it, reduced me to a weeping mess, but worth it. Highly recommended.
May 31, 2015
Definitelo
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews