His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations-a search for the truth that threatens to consume him. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia.
The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.Īlicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety.
#THE SILENT PATIENT NOVEL WINDOWS#
A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy."Īlex Michaelides's The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband-and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.Īlicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. "An unforgettable-and Hollywood-bound-new thriller. Those who liked Charlotte Duckworth's The Rival are likely to be fans of The Silent Patient as well.**THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** As we speak, Hollywood is working on adapting The Silent Patient for the big screen, with Rooney Mara ( Una)said to be involved. That said, Michaelides has certainly not let anyone down and his maiden attempt at novel writing should be lauded. The narrative does seem at times confusing, but maybe it was deliberately made that way. The Silent Patient is a slow-burn thriller, in which the audience is made to think Dr Faber is a troubled man with noble intentions, only for the shocking truth to jump out into their faces at the end of the book. As a Greek, he clearly knows his tragedies just as Professor Diomedes said so in the book. The titular character of the Greek tragedy becomes something of a symbol as the story progresses and Alicia's past becomes rather apparent. Michaelides being of Hellenic heritage uses the reference to Alcestis to explain Alicia's silence. Michaelides sets Dr Faber up as an unreliable narrator in much the same way as Charlotte Duckworth did for Helena Brenton in The Rival. In fact, they may well be two sides of the same coin.
They also rushed into marriage with people who were rather unsuitable in an attempt to escape the past. Towards the end, it also intertwines with events concurrent with Dr Faber's personal life, leading to a shocking cliffhanger.īoth Alicia and Dr Faber are damaged individuals who grew up with highly abusive parents. It details her troubled childhood and the tensions she had with her husband. He gets accepted and almost immediately takes it upon himself to get Alicia to open up.Ī secondary narrative presents itself in the form of a diary Alicia had been keeping in the weeks leading up to the murder. Dr Faber is drawn to Alicia's case early on and applies for a job at the Grove once a vacancy presents itself.
Ever since then, she has been a patient at the Grove under the care of Professor Diomedes and his team of dedicated professionals. Alicia was an artist whose work had been exhibited publicly and attracted great publicity after she shot her husband dead and stopped speaking thereafter. He has applied for a job at an institution where a famous killer, Alicia Berenson, has been warded. The main narrator is Dr Theo Faber, a psychotherapist with vast experience working with those declared criminally insane.