The silent patient
The silent patient —The Silent Patient— is a psychological thriller written by Cypriot screenwriter and author Alex Michaelides. Celadon Books, a section of the publishing house Macmillan Publishers, was responsible for publishing the debut of the psychotherapist on February 5, 2019. The same year it appeared on the best-seller list of the New York Times. From then on, the work became a commercial success that left critics with their hair standing on end.
AJ Finn, the famous best-selling author The woman at the window (2018), I was so dazzled after reading Michaelides' novel, that he described it as “the perfect thriller”. The book also garnered mostly positive reviews from outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, The Times, The Observer y BBC Culture, nothing more and nothing less. Its edition in Spanish ran from the hand of the Alfaguara publishing house.
Synopsis of The silent patient
Alcestis
The plot of thriller begins when a talented artist named Alicia Berenson murders her husband Gabriel in cold blood. The relationship that the protagonist had with her husband seemed to be idyllic.
They were both completely in love with each other. However, that could not prevent Alicia from taking a gun and shooting Gabriel five times in the head when he returned to his house one night among many others. After this terrible event, the woman chooses not to utter a word again..
His silence remains even in his trial, in which he did not defend himself. The only clues that those in charge of the case can follow are Alicia's diary and a painting that the accused was painting. during house arrest. He called this work Alcestis, just like that tragedy written by the Greek poet Euripides.
The painting itself is an enigma. Well, no one knows if it has any direct relationship with the crime, or if it is simply the product of a deranged mind that is looking for a break.
in the grove
after trial, seeing that Alicia will never talk about what happened, the woman is transferred to a secure psychiatric facility called The Grove. The institution is located in North London. Said place is not in its best moment; in fact, in the corridors the rumor is heard that the clinic is close to closing.
Therefore, barely having arrived, It is proposed that the protagonist be transferred to another site. To avoid this, specialists designate Alicia Berenson as the spearhead case that will keep them current. However, the protagonist has not shown signs of improvement in all the years that she has spent in the center.
Consequently, it is also no defense against the Foundation, since none of her traffickers have been able to make her say a single word. Closure seems almost inevitable until another psychotherapist takes over.
Theo Faber
A psychotherapy expert comes to The Grove to treat Alicia. on this occasion It is not just any specialist, but one who has been obsessed with the silent patient for years and the possible motives for his crime.
Theo Faber, who has serious affective problems in their relationship, is not only willing to work on the recovery of the inmate, but also he's pretty sure he can get her to talk for the first time in years.
Instead of feeling worried about the challenge, the specialist shows fascination for the case of Alicia Berenson, who keeps a diary where he usually dumps all his fears. The psychotherapist thinks that the events that occurred between the protagonist and her husband have their origin in the woman's rocky past. At that point, her relationship with her parents looms large.
Little by little, Theo leaves his work as a psychoanalyst a little aside and he becomes a detective.
an inner investigation
Since then begins to dig deep under the rubble of Alice's old life. In addition, it delves into the people who were involved with her and every strange or grotesque event that she was influenced by.
Although Theo's way is marked by his obsession with discovering everything related to the events that occurred on the night that Alicia murdered Gabriel, the actions that this protagonist takes are very personal.
Through the investigation that the specialist carries out on his patient, it is possible to get to know him. It reveals how he began in the world of psychotherapy, his life and his marital conflicts with his wife Kathy. The silent patient es one of those novels that show us how to put together a convoluted plot full of mysteries to solve.
Is Alex Michaelides the new promise of the English thriller?
With an exciting beginning, an intriguing middle, and an ending with great cognitive and emotional impact, The silent patient elevates Alex Michaelides as a promising writer of contemporary classics in the genre of police novel.
The text has encouraging reviews from The Independent y The Guardian, who praised her precise, sharp, and vivid prose. In addition, they mention how the author is able to maintain the tension through simple characters and an uncluttered narrative style.
About the author, Alex Michaelides
alex michaelides
Alex Michaelides was born in 1977, in the Republic of Cyprus, a country in the eastern Mediterranean. His father is Cypriot and his mother is English, so Alex has both nationalities. He studied English literature at Trinity College, a section dedicated to letters at the University of Cambridge. Later he was a student at the school of psychotherapy for three years. Thanks to this, he was able to work in a unit dedicated to the safe care of mental patients, a job he carried out for two years.
Michaelides devoted himself to writing film scripts for two decades. This profession, in the end, was highly disappointing to him, since he felt that the industry does not respect the work of screenwriters, who only see how their material is sullied on the screen. After this resolution decided to enter the literary world, and wrote his first novel, which is partially inspired by his experiences as an assistant in the secure unit for young adults.
Other books by Alex Michaelides
- The Maidens — the maidens (2021)