Book Summary: During the 1960s, a university study on four psychic women took a dark turn when researchers realized their collective presence acted as a paranormal amplifier. Spanning six decades, the story unfolds through the perspectives of the four original subjects and Riley, a modern-day caregiver to Betty, one of the survivors. Together, they recount the terrifying escalation of the study and the long shadow it cast over their lives.

Review: This was a spectacular story from Sarah Pekkanen. I was immediately drawn in by Riley’s background, only to realize that the heart of the story was far larger than her alone. The history of how the four women were recruited, the chilling escalation of the study, and the women's reactions to it unfolded beautifully throughout the narrative, keeping me guessing about what truly happened all those years ago. This is officially my first five-star read of 2026

For fans of Stranger Things who are interested in learning more about how people who were thought to have extrasensory perception were studied and experimented in. Despite bing historical fiction, the novel includes many references to real studies and reports (definitely read the epilogue). The story itself is told during two time periods- the 1960s: the lives and experiences of four women; and modern day: Betty, the sole survivor of the experiment hires a caretaker and they learn that someone is continuing the experiments that began on her decades ago.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Sarah Pekkanen writes another can’t put down psychological thriller. Basing her fictional story on true experiments performed in the 1960s you'll become so immersed in the story you’ll forget it’s fiction. Great edge of your seat reading. Thanks for the ARC!

Such a great book, you can tell a lot of research went into this book. Very interesting information and seeing all the footnotes. Will be buying this at my library. Sarah Pekkanen is a wonderful writer.

5/5 Stars
Sarah Pekkanen is an auto-read author for me, so I was very excited to read The Women in White. As someone with a psychology background, I really enjoyed the subject matter. The story felt well-researched. It had a different feel than most of her other books, but I really enjoyed it.

Sarah Pekkanen is a guaranteed good read for me! This book drew me in right from the start. I loved the dual timeline and dual perspectives. Such a creative and interesting subject for a book. Very fascinating! A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley I will be suggesting this one to book clubs.

The concept for this book was so fresh and new that it had me hooked from the start. Betty and Riley were such engaging narrators and I enjoyed the alternating timelines. I also really loved that we got to see Kathleen, Ivy, and Helen’s perspectives and felt like that really added to the story. This book also featured one of the most sinister villains I have read in recent memory - so incredibly vile but so well written. This was my first book by this author and it won’t be the last!