THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides
BOOK CLUB CHOICE, January 2021
Reviewed by: Kathryn Raymond
That rarest of beasts: the perfect thriller. This extraordinary novel set my blood fizzing—I quite literally couldn’t put it down. I told myself I’d just dip in; eleven hours later—it’s now 5:47 a.m.—I’ve finished it, absolutely dazzled.
A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
“Really excited to announce Plan B and Annapurna are developing #TheSilentPatient as a movie,” he wrote. “Officially all my dreams have come true.”
Alex Michaelides
At age 47, Alex launched his debut novel, February 5, 2019. He grew up in Cypress with a Greek/Cypriot father and English mother. His writing style was shaped by Agatha Christie, both by her writing style and after having read most of her novels as a teenager. Five Little Pigs by her is about a murder that happened 16 years previously. The Silent Patient is also written six years after it happened. Michaelidis wanted to set the book up in present/past segments as well as write it from a 1st person point of view. He was haunted by the play, Alcestis, as the ending did not sit well with the tragedy him. Alcestis died to save her husband but was then brought back to life as a mute. Alex creates the ending he wanted to read but with many clues and crumbs throughout the book with twists right to the last two pages.
The Silent Patient is a psychological thriller (or perhaps a character study and a strong psychological focus) of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist Theo, the ultimate psychopath, obsessed with uncovering her motive, all the time teasing her into wondering if she is sane.
Alicia, as a wife and artist, has struggled with mental health issues from childhood. Her 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. Alicia remained silent—but signed a picture she painted at “The Grove” signed as Alcestis
All we know at the start is her husband has been shot and she is the prime suspect. She has not spoken since she was found at his side with a gun and blood!
Theo’s 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.
The ending is worth the read, for sure!
In the video below, the author, Alex Michaelides, tells us more about the books that inspired him in the writing of his own.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 