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A Bed by the Window: A Novel Of Mystery And Redemption
Among those within the self-contained world of the Willow Glen nursing home are two extraordinary people. One is there to give care, the other to receive it. Yet together they form a band of love and trust that transcends their expectations and changes their lives. Violence shatters Willow Glen as a murderer roams the halls of the home, and the residents and staff must confront a truly terrifying evil and face their innermost fears, suspicions & darkest secrets.
306 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
16 people are currently reading
395 people want to read
About the author
M. Scott Peck
123 books1,721 followersMorgan Scott Peck was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote the book The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
October 29, 2025
Authored by the same psychiatrist who wrote The Road Less Travelled this is a story for the not faint of heart. Sometimes so heart wrenchingly difficult to read I'm tempted to DNF; other times so enthralling, I can't put it down. A real page turner that was a rollar coaster of a ride .
UNTIL something very unusual occured around page 89...out of the blue the perpetrator is very casually revealed! "what was that!?!" I had ro reread the unequivocal spoiler to be sure I wasn't mistaken. Felt like the author was giving me the adolescent "raspberry", the little finger, not nice.
Made me feel like I was just trudging through the the remaining 220pgs, ever hopeful that there would be a redeeming twist before the end.
Could have been a 4.5 star read, but this author-issued spoiler relegates it to 2 stars, very disappointing.
UNTIL something very unusual occured around page 89...out of the blue the perpetrator is very casually revealed! "what was that!?!" I had ro reread the unequivocal spoiler to be sure I wasn't mistaken. Felt like the author was giving me the adolescent "raspberry", the little finger, not nice.
Made me feel like I was just trudging through the the remaining 220pgs, ever hopeful that there would be a redeeming twist before the end.
Could have been a 4.5 star read, but this author-issued spoiler relegates it to 2 stars, very disappointing.
February 26, 2025
This is one that I suddenly remembered I had read, while discussing possible books to read with an elderly relative.
It's a simple murder mystery, with some wisdom in it, set in a nursing home. It's written by psychiatrist Scott Peck. Peck became famous for self help/ popular psychology books starting with the Road less traveled.
This book has a vision of life and of people that is warm and humane. (Although the premise behind the crime is dark). There is a touch of religion/ the supernatural in the story. It's one that has stuck with me. But Peck was not primarily a novelist. It's not a great book but it embodies the richness of the psychiatrist author's experience with many types of people.
It's a simple murder mystery, with some wisdom in it, set in a nursing home. It's written by psychiatrist Scott Peck. Peck became famous for self help/ popular psychology books starting with the Road less traveled.
This book has a vision of life and of people that is warm and humane. (Although the premise behind the crime is dark). There is a touch of religion/ the supernatural in the story. It's one that has stuck with me. But Peck was not primarily a novelist. It's not a great book but it embodies the richness of the psychiatrist author's experience with many types of people.
February 14, 2014
A murder mystery in a nursing home seems like an unusual topic, but I figured I'd give it a shot since it was written by a doctor, and Peck was successful at drawing me in. Because I purchased the book a while ago, I hadn't read the back cover recently and didn't remember it was a mystery at first, as it opens with a couple returning an elderly parent to the nursing home against her will as they realize they can no longer care for her. As the book evolves, and readers learn more about what happens behind the doors of Willow Glen, it changes the common perception about nursing facilities and those who live there.
Peck focuses on one particular nurse, Heather, for much of the early book as she cares for the patients on C-Wing, the section of the nursing home for the ambulatory patients who don't seem imminently ready to die. Character development was good, as we learn about the variety of patients Heather cares for. There's Georgia, the woman just dropped off, who loses most of the senile tendencies that caused her to be unable to stay at home as soon as she gets to Willow Glen. Roommates Rachel and Crazy Carol are probably the two most unpleasant residents, the former being a crabby diabetic double amputee who throws her food, screams obscenities, and makes Heather's and the other caregivers' lives miserable, and the latter suffering from dementia that causes her to wander from the home if she isn't restrained in her bed or a chair in the hall at all times, uttering an endless repetitive monologue of 'Where is my doctor?' and 'Have you seen my purse?'.
At the other end of the spectrum are Steven and Mrs. G., the only two residents who don't have roommates, and also the most severely disabled, yet widely regarded as the most pleasant. Steven is decades younger than everyone else on the unit, having been removed from the state mental hospital by Willow Glen's resident psychiatrist once it was determined that the cerebral palsy that renders him immobile did not affect his brain and he is actually brilliant. He lives on a gurney by the nurse's station because he likes to know what is going on and was deprived of any mental stimulation in the hospital, communicating by tapping out letters on a board but awaiting his first computer (book is set in 1988, so computer voices were a new technology at the time). Mrs. G. lives by herself in a bed by the window (hence the title of the book), paralyzed from the neck down due to multiple sclerosis but also mentally sharp. She serves as a sort of den mother in the book, being the person who Heather and others come to when they need advice or just need to talk. Like Steven, Mrs. G. is acutely aware of what goes on with everyone, and she is not afraid to speak her mind if something needs to be said.
When one of the patients on C-Wing is killed, readers learn more about the psychiatrist and local police officers in charge of investigating the crime, as well as the two administrators of Willow Glen, who have very different theories on how to run the place. Peck kept me guessing on who actually committed the crime, as there were many likely suspects, and enough mystery about the pasts of many of the characters to build suspicion.
Beyond the mystery though, I feel like Peck wrote the book to teach life lessons, as many of the characters still alive and innocent at the end of the book end up seeing themselves and those around them in new light. There is a religious tilt to the book at times, but I didn't feel as if the book hinged on it as a way to justify all that occurs. The psychology angle that was also prevalent in the book had a greater impact on the course of events and these life lessons, as I believe that is Peck's field of specialty, so if all of his books are rooted in psychology, I'm not sure I'd read the non-fiction, but his fiction remains intriguing.
Peck focuses on one particular nurse, Heather, for much of the early book as she cares for the patients on C-Wing, the section of the nursing home for the ambulatory patients who don't seem imminently ready to die. Character development was good, as we learn about the variety of patients Heather cares for. There's Georgia, the woman just dropped off, who loses most of the senile tendencies that caused her to be unable to stay at home as soon as she gets to Willow Glen. Roommates Rachel and Crazy Carol are probably the two most unpleasant residents, the former being a crabby diabetic double amputee who throws her food, screams obscenities, and makes Heather's and the other caregivers' lives miserable, and the latter suffering from dementia that causes her to wander from the home if she isn't restrained in her bed or a chair in the hall at all times, uttering an endless repetitive monologue of 'Where is my doctor?' and 'Have you seen my purse?'.
At the other end of the spectrum are Steven and Mrs. G., the only two residents who don't have roommates, and also the most severely disabled, yet widely regarded as the most pleasant. Steven is decades younger than everyone else on the unit, having been removed from the state mental hospital by Willow Glen's resident psychiatrist once it was determined that the cerebral palsy that renders him immobile did not affect his brain and he is actually brilliant. He lives on a gurney by the nurse's station because he likes to know what is going on and was deprived of any mental stimulation in the hospital, communicating by tapping out letters on a board but awaiting his first computer (book is set in 1988, so computer voices were a new technology at the time). Mrs. G. lives by herself in a bed by the window (hence the title of the book), paralyzed from the neck down due to multiple sclerosis but also mentally sharp. She serves as a sort of den mother in the book, being the person who Heather and others come to when they need advice or just need to talk. Like Steven, Mrs. G. is acutely aware of what goes on with everyone, and she is not afraid to speak her mind if something needs to be said.
When one of the patients on C-Wing is killed, readers learn more about the psychiatrist and local police officers in charge of investigating the crime, as well as the two administrators of Willow Glen, who have very different theories on how to run the place. Peck kept me guessing on who actually committed the crime, as there were many likely suspects, and enough mystery about the pasts of many of the characters to build suspicion.
Beyond the mystery though, I feel like Peck wrote the book to teach life lessons, as many of the characters still alive and innocent at the end of the book end up seeing themselves and those around them in new light. There is a religious tilt to the book at times, but I didn't feel as if the book hinged on it as a way to justify all that occurs. The psychology angle that was also prevalent in the book had a greater impact on the course of events and these life lessons, as I believe that is Peck's field of specialty, so if all of his books are rooted in psychology, I'm not sure I'd read the non-fiction, but his fiction remains intriguing.
July 29, 2014
This book is the first thing I have read by Scott peck, md. It is very well written and a page-burner mystery. But he also skillfully weaves spiritual themes of redemption, forgiveness, free will, friendship , love, courage through the story. Profound discussions between characters that one has to read several times to absorb. Although some of the circumstances are a bit uncomfortable, the complexity of the human condition is beautifully portrayed.
April 12, 2012
The setting is a nursing home. There is a murder, and the investigator settles on the best nurse there as the likley suspect. Through the aftereffects of the murder, many lives are touched to become better people.
Since it is a novel, there is a lot of philosophy that the members of the community have that doesn't come across too heavy. I feel like Dr. Peck was able to say more through them than he could directly, and get us, the readers, to think more about whether they are true or not than he could in a non-fiction book.
Since it is a novel, there is a lot of philosophy that the members of the community have that doesn't come across too heavy. I feel like Dr. Peck was able to say more through them than he could directly, and get us, the readers, to think more about whether they are true or not than he could in a non-fiction book.
July 2, 2023
hrozně geniální knížka. skvělá psychologická detektivka, hustý prostředí, geniálně vykreslený postavy, scény u kterých mrazí po zádech. doporučuju i další knížky od Pecka!
November 19, 2013
I read this book many years ago and was surprised that Scott Peck wrote it. It is an unusual look at what it means to give and receive acknowledgment, affection and love. I still treasure it.
June 23, 2019
While most of the characters seemed real and the plot was based on a good idea, there isn't much else good to say about this book. The way it is written, the detective appeared to not know how to do his job. The main problem with the story is that, at the end, there was no real resolution. I was left wondering who really killed the victim and why? Many of the other plots weaved into to the story also had no resolution and I was left with more questions than answers.
January 3, 2023
A murder mystery in a nursing home is not a setting I would have thought off - starts off a little slow but then picks up - interesting plot - the nursing home seems like a "small town" everyone knows everyone & their business - nice ending....
June 14, 2022
I kept reading because I wanted to know who the murderer was but I felt that the book was long-winded. There was much info I didn’t feel was necessary
April 10, 2022
Totally dated in attitudes to disabled people and any natural desire/need for sexual contact. And this from an M.D.! Not sure I would have wanted him as my GP - even has far back as 1990.
September 10, 2010
This was an interesting read, partly because it takes place in a nursing home, partly because its about so many end of life issues, and partly because of the author, M. Scott Peck. He is the author of The Road Less Traveled- and one of the first people in my youth to be talking about alternative thinking and being. Writing a novel on this subject in 1990 is quite innovative and I think Dr. Peck does a good job of holding the reader's interest on a topic no one really wants to take the time to think about.
May 3, 2012
At first I thought I'd like this book. It had an unusual setting, and some potentially interesting characters.
Then a young, wild living nurse greeted her aide with a "Good Evening." Please, she's Alfred Hitchcock now? The aide "trotted" off. Good people were surrounded by light. It got to be too much, and it was icky besides. I couldn't finish it.
Then a young, wild living nurse greeted her aide with a "Good Evening." Please, she's Alfred Hitchcock now? The aide "trotted" off. Good people were surrounded by light. It got to be too much, and it was icky besides. I couldn't finish it.
July 31, 2020
It`s more of human drama than mystery, but still I enjoyed that the characters were described in a very delicate manner (I read it in Japanese not English, though). I am a fan of Scott Peck and I recommend anyone to read his previous books first. I think it would be much easier to understand the context of the story.
July 25, 2012
There was so much to think about with this book - the insights, the layers and the moments of pathos.
I couldn't get into the other books that M Scott Peck is famous for - though am glad I read this one.
I couldn't get into the other books that M Scott Peck is famous for - though am glad I read this one.
May 19, 2009
I read this one many years ago, but for some reason it's really stuck in my mind. It was disturbing..but if I can still remember it after all of this time, it must be a good book!
January 2, 2010
What an odd, odd story.
June 1, 2010
Threw this book in the trash. Literally. A.w.f.u.l. Bad ending to a smutty book.
May 19, 2013
bad.... didn't even bother to finish
January 18, 2014
A must read for anyone with loved ones in a nursing home.
September 29, 2014
This book has stayed with me for a long time. Very thought provoking.
August 25, 2015
Just not sure what to make of this one. Didn't seem to be typical M. Scott Peck for some reason.
May 5, 2017
A very good novelization of the concepts Peck has written about in his nonfiction. I read this over twenty years ago and it stayed with me for quite awhile.
June 10, 2017
Beautiful book in every possible way; well written, interesting, positive, with fine psychological and spiritual insights.
April 3, 2018
I read this book after reading The road less traveled. I was totally surprised by how revolting it was. Very strange book. I’d like to review it again to see if I feel the same way about it.
September 6, 2020
This is a well loved book. I read it several times. Everyone I recommended it to when I worked at the library really enjoyed it and thanked me for it a lot.
February 5, 2025
So torn between giving it 4 or 5 stars. I love Peck’s The Road Less Traveled book and was intrigued when I saw he’d written a fictional novel to share some of his ideas. I do think the novel setting makes some things easier to explain when in a narrative, not to mention stories stick with you and can get the message across better sometimes. It’s also a psychological mystery which is a genre I enjoy, although it’s definitely not your run of the mill type novel. I love how he deals with a lot of themes and also just how human he makes the characters, especially considering it’s set in a nursing home which is rare for a novel, and American culture definitely tends to dehumanize people who live in nursing homes. The reason I’m not sure about giving it a 5 though is because as far as the novelization goes, it’s almost a bit lacking, perhaps due to this not being the genre he usually writes in. The ending definitely wasn’t as clear as I expected. And it almost left some ambiguity about whether that was really what had happened, but the ambiguity wasn’t addressed/made clear so it seemed like the narrator seemed to feel the ending was clear but at the same time the reader is left wondering (again this could be due to lack of experience writing this genre). However, I’m also wondering if the ending maybe is *supposed to* be less clear than it seems to indicate, precisely due to the metaphysical theme of mystery/the unexplainable in the book. At any rate, it’s definitely a book that makes you think and I would recommend it to anyone who loves psychology/philosophy books in general or mystery fiction. Definitely adult content tho. Not suitable for younger readers.
December 22, 2024
Dans un centre médical, où vivent pour la plupart des gens en attente de la mort, survient un meurtre, celui de Stephen, paralysé au plus haut degré, mais très intelligent. Pétri, un inspecteur, mène l'enquête.
Le livre traite de plusieurs histoires en même temps, des malades au personnel soignant. Chacun tente, à leur manière , de trouver le repos, la paix d'esprit et surtout de ressentir la beauté de vivre.
Un livre touchant aux personnages intéressants.
Catégorisation: Roman fiction, littérature adulte
Note: 6/10
Le livre traite de plusieurs histoires en même temps, des malades au personnel soignant. Chacun tente, à leur manière , de trouver le repos, la paix d'esprit et surtout de ressentir la beauté de vivre.
Un livre touchant aux personnages intéressants.
Catégorisation: Roman fiction, littérature adulte
Note: 6/10
August 4, 2017
A fine book on personal development and a profound spiritual power that comes with understanding the depth of awareness and perception. I took away two stars from the score, not because it is uninteresting but because of the plot line which could have been a little less far-fetched in some areas and a little more realistic, especially the dialogues.
May 7, 2018
Loved this book in high school and college.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews