East Coast versus West Coast. Coke versus Pepsi. Red Sox versus Yankees. The Woman in the Window versus The Wife Between Us? If you ask the publishers behind these two hotly anticipated January novels whether there’s a rivalry afoot, you will get a coy nonresponse. What neither house will deny is that it is looking to its novel to dominate this winter. Given the books’ similarities—both were acquired in high-profile, big-money deals; both are debuts from publishing industry veterans; both have landed glitzy Hollywood deals—it’s clear a literary showdown is brewing. Here’s a look at the two big psychological thrillers trying to muscle their way onto readers’ bookshelves right after the new year:
The Wife Between Us
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub date: January 9
Plot: After her banker husband leaves her, Vanessa unravels in an alcohol-soaked downward spiral. When she discovers that her ex is engaged, she fixates on stopping the wedding—but not for the reasons readers might assume.
Advance: A rumored six figures
Authors: Greer Hendricks, a former Simon & Schuster editor in her authorial debut, and Sarah Pekkanen, a journalist and author of seven previous novels (all of which Hendricks edited)
Movie deal: Stephen Spielberg’s production unit, Amblin Partners, optioned the novel in October 2017.
Announced first printing: 250,000 copies
Foreign rights sales (as of press time): 30 (SMP controls world rights)
Connections to 'The Girl on the Train' and/or 'Gone Girl': The book features an unreliable female narrator with an alcohol problem, similar to the one in The Girl on the Train.
Marcy Drogin, the film scout who recommended to producer Holly Bario that she option The Girl on the Train, convinced Bario to buy The Wife Between Us.
Prepub accolades: A January IndieNext pick; on the January LibraryReads list
The Woman in the Window
Publisher: William Morrow
Pub date: January 2
Plot: Anna, a shut-in who drinks too much since her recent divorce, witnesses what she thinks is foul play while spying on her neighbor. Has she actually seen something or imagined it in a wine-soaked haze?
Advance: A reported seven figures
Author: Dan Mallory, executive editor at William Morrow, writing under the pseudonym A.J. Finn
Movie deal: Fox 2000 optioned the novel in late September 2017, before it sold for publishing.
Announced first printing: 200,000 copies
Foreign rights sales (as of press time): 38 (Morrow controls only North American rights)
Connections to 'The Girl on the Train' and/or 'Gone Girl': The book features an unreliable female narrator with an alcohol problem, similar to the one in The Girl on the Train.
The film scout who tipped Fox off in the film acquisition of Gone Girl is also behind the option of Woman in the Window.
Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn provided a blurb for the novel.
Prepub accolades: A January IndieNext pick; a January Book of the Month Club selection
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that The Woman in the Window was a December 2017 Book of the Month Club selection; it's a January Book of the Month Club selection.
