The New Couple in 5B

“He was there, watching, doing nothing, just taking pictures. He was a voyeur, someone who gazed upon disaster, murder, death, and did nothing but watch.”

This passage features Dana’s criticism of her father Ivan, a famous war photographer. However, it could equally apply to Rosie, who has made a career writing true crime books, and the reader, who is consuming a true crime novel. Criticism of true crime culture is an important theme across the novel.

“All the windows are dark except one. The yoga mom is standing there watching us. She must have seen the whole thing.”

The ubiquity of surveillance in New York City is an important motif in the novel. Even before Rosie and Chad move into the Windermere, they have a direct view into their neighbors’ lives, and vice versa. In this passage, Rosie realizes that an anonymous neighbor has been watching her have sex with Chad.

“Okay, that’s weird, right? […] does that mean he knew we were getting the apartment? Would he not have told me? That he was sure enough we were moving to request our security deposit back?”

This passage is indicative of Rosie’s casual, familiar narrative tone. The chapters featuring Rosie as a narrator often use direct address, as if Rosie is speaking directly to the reader. This passage is also one of many clues provided early in the novel that Chad is not a trustworthy figure.