The New Couple in 5B

by Lisa Unger

Rosie and Chad are a young couple in New York. Rosie is a struggling author who writes about true crime. Chad is trying to make his way as an actor. Money is tight: Rosie’s last book advance is running out, so she needs a new book contract. Chad is auditioning for roles, but acting jobs are elusive. Their apartment lease is up soon, and they aren’t sure they can afford to renew it.

They have spent the last few months caring for Chad’s uncle Ivan, who has now died. He had no remaining assets other than his apartment in the Windermere, an upscale prewar apartment building in a prestigious neighbourhood.

Then they learn, to their surprise, that Ivan has willed them his apartment—disinheriting his estranged daughter, Dana. Dana is furious, but Rosie and Chad are thrilled: they never dreamed they could own a place like that. They move in, and are immediately welcomed by the other residents in the building.

During the years of its existence, the Windermere has had more than its share of dark events: murders, suicides and terrible accidents. Rosie pitches a book proposal to her editor: she’ll write about the building’s history, focusing on each of the individuals who have died there. She begins researching the details.

Then the novel switches to 1963 — to another young couple living in the same apartment in the Windermere. Paul is a bestselling novelist. His wife Willa is a dancer, though her career has stalled. Willa wants to be a dutiful wife, but yearns for more excitement. Depite good intentions, she keeps sneaking out at night to meet a secret lover.

From there the novel alternates between the two stories, the two couples living in the same apartment, separated by decades. Echoes of Willa’s and Paul’s lives begin reverberating in the present. Rosie starts seeing fleeting images in the building and wonders if she is seeing ghosts.

And as events unfold, it becomes apparent that the Windermere’s dark side is not reserved for the past. There are plenty of threats and dangers in the present as well.

The novel is well-written, suspenseful and fast-paced. The past is definitely haunting the present — and the ghosts Rosie is seeing seem real — but it is the actual relationships between people, their secrets and hidden motives, that drive the story forward to a pulse-pounding ending.

Lisa Unger is an internationally bestselling author known for her character-driven psychological thrillers. Her characters are often hiding terrible secrets, trying to overcome trauma, or running from a dark past. Her books have been translated into twenty-six languages and have sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Lisa was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1970. As a child she lived in the Netherlands, England and New Jersey due to the nomadic nature of her father’s job with Exxon. She majored in writing and literature at the New School for Social Research in New York. She then spent a decade working as a book publicist in New York, meanwhile fitting in writing "in the nooks and crannies of life." During that time she started fleshing out the character who became Lydia Strong in her first novel, but she didn’t get serious about writing until she turned 29. Three years later, in 2002, Angel Fire was published under her maiden name, Lydia Miscione, followed by three more Lydia Strong novels.

She switched to writing under her married name of Lisa Unger in 2006 when she moved to a new publisher, Random House, with Beautiful Lies. Since then she’s written fifteen more novels; The New Couple in 5B, published in 2024, is the most recent. Lisa lives in Clearwater, Florida with her husband Jeff, her daughter Ocean, and their labradoodle Jak Jak.

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