The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen: A compelling blend of mystery and the paranormal

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Women in White offers an engaging blend of psychological suspense, historical mystery, and paranormal intrigue. While the novel explores unsettling ethical questions about scientific experimentation, it remains an accessible page-turner with crisp prose, short chapters, and enough twists to keep readers invested until the final pages. If you’re looking for a thriller that combines a decades-old conspiracy with supernatural elements while remaining easy to read, this one is well worth adding to your list.

The novel unfolds across two timelines. In 1964, Betty is a young newlywed whose greatest ambition is simply to be a good wife. That changes when her husband, Douglas, discovers that she possesses an unusual psychic gift. Hoping to advance his academic career, he introduces Betty to Dr. Trimble, a respected university researcher studying parapsychology.

At first, the research sessions appear harmless. But as Dr. Trimble’s ambitions grow, so do the demands he places on Betty and three other gifted women participating in the study. The experiments become increasingly invasive, pushing far beyond anything the women would have willingly agreed to had they fully understood what lay ahead.

In the present day, Riley Bell is rebuilding her life after a painful divorce. Living out of her car, she accepts what appears to be a caretaking position for the elderly Betty. Instead, she discovers that Betty needs very little physical assistance. What she truly wants is someone willing to help uncover the fate of the women who disappeared alongside her more than sixty years earlier.

As Riley begins digging into the past, she discovers that someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to erase every trace of the research program and the women who participated in it. The deeper she and Betty investigate, the more dangerous their search becomes.

The strongest theme running through The Women in White is the abuse of power in scientific research. Dr. Trimble occupies a position of tremendous authority over both the women and their families. Several of the husbands depend on him professionally, leaving the women feeling as though refusing participation simply isn’t an option. Consent becomes increasingly blurred as social expectations, financial dependence, and professional ambitions trap everyone involved.

One of the novel’s most disturbing examples comes when Ivy is separated from her newborn baby for days because Dr. Trimble insists the experiments require it. Her husband remains silent because his coaching position exists only through Dr. Trimble’s influence. Throughout the novel, Dr. Trimble continually exploits these unequal power dynamics, pushing the women further than any ethical researcher ever should.

Rather than presenting outright villains from the beginning, Pekkanen demonstrates how ordinary people can gradually accept increasingly unacceptable behavior when authority goes unquestioned. The result is a thoughtful exploration of research ethics, informed consent, and the dangers of allowing scientific ambition to outweigh basic human dignity.

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The dual timeline structure works particularly well here. Betty’s 1960s storyline slowly reveals the horrifying truth behind the experiments, while Riley’s modern investigation pieces together the consequences decades later. Each timeline continually reframes what readers think they know, allowing new discoveries in one era to cast earlier events in the other in an entirely different light.

Betty herself serves as the emotional bridge between the two narratives. After surviving the experiments, she spends decades isolated by her husband’s attempts to protect her from the forces that destroyed her friends. Only after Douglas’s death does she finally have the freedom to seek answers about the women she lost. Meanwhile, Riley’s own struggles with divorce and homelessness give her understandable motivation to accept Betty’s unusual offer while also making her an empathetic partner in Betty’s search for the truth.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its accessibility. Pekkanen writes for a broad audience using clear, straightforward prose that never becomes weighed down by unnecessary exposition. Even though the novel tackles ideas involving parapsychology, ethics, trauma, and institutional secrecy, it remains easy to follow throughout.

The short chapters keep the pacing brisk, making this an excellent choice for readers who often squeeze reading into busy schedules between appointments, lunch breaks, or errands. It’s the kind of novel that’s easy to pick up for fifteen minutes and difficult to put back down.

I wouldn’t classify The Women in White as literary fiction, but it does offer genuine substance beneath its entertaining mystery. Readers interested in questions about scientific responsibility, institutional abuse, and the lingering effects of trauma will find plenty to think about after finishing the story.

The Women in White successfully combines historical mystery, supernatural suspense, and ethical questions into an engaging thriller that remains highly accessible from beginning to end. The paranormal elements add an intriguing layer to the mystery without overwhelming the human story at its core, while the dual timelines steadily build suspense toward satisfying revelations.

If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers that mix historical secrets with paranormal touches and meaningful themes, Sarah Pekkanen’s latest novel deserves a place on your reading list.

Have you read The Women in White, or are you planning to pick it up when it releases? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Related Content

• A conversation with Sarah Pekkanen (Literary Mama)
• Sarah Pekkanen hears no evil (Publishers Weekly)
• Interview with Sarah Pekkanen (The Big Thrill)
• Interview with Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Ever After (Vilma Iris)

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