The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. 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. 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.
Alicia’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 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.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. 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….
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.
Review:
I am super late to the party on this one. So much so that I was afraid to read it because, with all of the buzz, I was worried I would be disappointed. I’d also heard there was a mind-blowing twist that no one saw coming, so of course, I had to see if I could figure it out. I had my suspicions early on, and these suspicions panned out, but this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel at all.
In the event you’ve not read this one, the story revolves around Alicia Berenson, a renowned painter who, for unexplained reasons, shot her husband in the face five times and now refuses to speak. Alicia has been in a psychiatric facility for several years, and Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, has been obsessed with her case for a very long time. So much so that he has managed to get himself hired at the hospital where Alicia stays, and it’s not long before the head of staff allows Theo to work with Alicia in an attempt to get her to speak and reveal her truth once and for all.
That’s all I’ll say about the overall plot because to reveal much more than that will take away the fun from reading this one. The story is told primarily from the point of view of Theo, with journal entries from Alicia peppered amongst the book. This dual perspective adds depth and complexity to the story, allowing readers to witness the psychological battle between Alicia’s trauma and Theo’s relentless pursuit of the truth.
The character development in the novel is top-notch. Though she says very little, Alicia is a complex and enigmatic character, and honestly, her silence becomes a character in its own right. Her inability (or is it unwillingness?) to speak forces readers to delve deeper into her psyche, questioning her motivations and forming their own theories about the truth. Theo, on the other hand, is a flawed and tenacious psychotherapist whose unwavering determination to unravel Alicia’s mystery keeps us glued to the pages. What I loved about Theo is that he struggles with some crippling mental health issues of his own, and there were times when I wondered if his commitment to Alicia and her case was healthy for him. At times, it seems as though he is teetering on the edge of losing his shit himself.
In addition to the captivating characters, Michaelides expertly incorporates the exploration of mental health and trauma into the narrative. He handles these sensitive topics with compassion and nuance, highlighting the complexities of the human mind. In a way, the mental health struggles of the characters almost take on a life of their own, becoming another character in the book.
This one is a true page-turner, the kind of book that keeps you up late into the night, unable to put it down. Michaelides’ skill at building suspense and crafting unexpected plot twists is admirable, and I never felt the pace faltered. Every sentence had a purpose, and I was never bored.
This is definitely a must-read if you’re a fan of the psychological thriller genre. With its creative storytelling, compelling characters, and addictive storyline, I can see why it was praised as one of the year’s most remarkable debuts when it was released. I’ll definitely be checking out this author’s other works.
