Author
Alex Michaelides
Publisher
Orion Books
Genre
Thriller / Mystery
Number of Pages
339
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You will realize you’re holding your breath till you turn to the very last page.
Summary
The story starts with a journal entry by Alicia Berenson, where she explains that she’s writing this journal because her husband insisted she writes it to express her internal thoughts. Alicia is a painter, and Gabriel Berenson, her husband, is a photographer. They are happily married for seven years. In the second chapter, we learn that one night Gabriel was (murdered) shot by Alicia in the face five times, and since that incident, she has become silent. Her enduring silence turns the story into a grand mystery. She hasn’t spoken to anyone except she drew a painting titled ALCESTIS soon after the murder.
Theo Faber is a psychotherapist who feels uniquely qualified to help Alicia. He wants to be part of this sensational case, and he believes he can make Alicia talk and find what happened that night, even though Alicia has been silent for six years now. An opportunity presents itself with an opening at THE Grove, the forensic institute Alicia is being kept.
My Review
The whole story, landscape, and characters are depicted as dark, as is required for the plot. While reading the story, you cannot help but think that you’re walking on a dimly lit, lonely street late into the night, and somebody you cannot see is following you. All you can do is wait with bated breath for the figure in the dark to strike!
The characters Theo and Alicia are flawless, but even the other minor characters like Mark, Alicia’s brother-in-law, Jean-Felix, Alicia’s gallery owner, Aunt Lydia, Kathy, Theo’s wife, all have an internal aura of mystery surrounding them. They stand before your eyes distinctly without the aid of any descriptive narrative. The dialogue is intriguing, with some light thrown on psychiatry as a profession.
"One of the hardest things to admit is that we weren’t loved when we needed it most. It’s a terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved."
The story itself is straight forward only mixed with Alicia’s journal entries once in a while. There is no back and forth movement between events or unnecessary complications in the plot, but heart-stopping twists are delivered multiple times.
The best bit I like about The Silent Patient was the weaving of the parallel story of Theo’s history that was so effortless and presented as one with the original story that I never for one second doubted the intention of that story other than to create a background for an important character.
"The aim of therapy is not to correct the past, but to enable the patient to confront his own history, and to grieve over it."
Final Verdict
I finished this book in two days over the weekend, and I don’t regret spending my weekend with such a brilliant copy of writing even one bit. I was wholly entertained and loved it in every way. I rate it a perfect score 5 out of 5 stars for the racing heart and palpitations the story gave me.
I look forward to the movie adaptation announced of this book and hope I am not disappointed by it and look forward to more stories from this brilliant author Alex Michaelides.
"Real love is very quiet, very still. It’s boring, if seen from the perspective of high drama. Love is deep and calm and constant.”
Who Should Read It
Thriller and mystery fans should not miss this one. Please read it before the movie is out.
Happy Reading!
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Alex Michaelides
Born in Cyprus to a Greek-Cypriot father and English mother, he studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara. THE SILENT PATIENT is his first novel.
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