The author of A Stranger in the House is <a href="https://www.supersummary.com/search/shari%20lapena/#4f95dd1f-79bd-43cf-a63d-47d4beae594d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shari Lapena</a>, a Toronto-based Canadian author of domestic mysteries and thrillers. Lapena worked as a lawyer and an English teacher before becoming a best-selling writer. As a writer of domestic thrillers, her novels often deal with tensions in relationships, secrets, and crime. All of these tropes are present in A Stranger in the House. One of her bestselling novels is <a href="https://www.supersummary.com/the-couple-next-door/summary/?searchId=4f95dd1f-79bd-43cf-a63d-47d4beae594d&amp;searchPosition=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Couple Next Door</a> (2016). Like A Stranger in the House, The Couple Next Door is a domestic thriller about a normal, wealthy suburban family whose lives are upended by a tragic event, in this case, the disappearance of a child. The story takes place in roughly the same <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.supersummary.com/setting/">setting</a> as A Stranger in the House, a suburb in upstate New York. Although the works are stand-alone thrillers, the crime in The Couple Next Door is investigated by the same detective who features in A Stranger in the House, Detective Rasbach. However, Shari Lapena has stated she will likely not be bringing back Detective Rasbach in future novels, although she has considered writing a stand-alone novel about his backstory. She has admitted that “I have so many people ask for a sequel to A Stranger in the House, that I’m starting to think maybe I could bring back some of those characters” (Kate Newton, “<a href="https://www.

Authorial Context: Shari Lapena

Medical Context: Post-Traumatic Amnesia

Literary Area of Study

Canadian Literature

Society

Class

Social Issues

Relationships

Marriage

Values & Ideas

Trust & Doubt

Truth & Lies

Shari Lapena

Adult

Novel

Fiction

Guide

Study Guide

Book Brief

Explore A Stranger in the House reviews, reading age recommendations, and essential genre and thematic details before you start reading.

About A Stranger in the House

title

content

Overview

Get ready to explore A Stranger in the House and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

A Stranger in the House Summary and Study Guide

contentWarning

Background

A Stranger in the House Background

chapter

chapterType

section

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic scenes of death and injury and mental illness.

Prologue-Chapter 9

A Stranger in the House Prologue-Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic scenes of death and injury, domestic abuse, and mental illness.

Chapters 10-21

A Stranger in the House Chapters 10-21 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic scenes of death and injury, domestic abuse, death by suicide, and mental illness.

Chapters 22-30

A Stranger in the House Chapters 22-30 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of domestic abuse, death by suicide, and mental illness.

Chapters 31-39

A Stranger in the House Chapters 31-39 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 40-49

A Stranger in the House Chapters 40-49 Summary & Analysis

character

Character Analysis

A Stranger in the House Character Analysis

theme

Themes

A Stranger in the House Themes

Symbols & Motifs

A Stranger in the House Symbols & Motifs

quote

citation

Important Quotes

A Stranger in the House Important Quotes with Page Numbers

generalImpressionsTitle

generalImpressionsContent

personalReflectionAndConnectionTitle

personalReflectionAndConnectionContent

societalAndCulturalContextTitle

societalAndCulturalContextContent

literaryAnalysisTitle

literaryAnalysisContent

creativeEngagementTitle

creativeEngagementContent

Book Club Questions

A Stranger in the House Book Club Questions

A Stranger in the House

Background

Related Titles

Featured Collections