Book review #1
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
About
the book :
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....
My take :
The story is narrated from the point of view of Theo Faber, a
psychotherapist, who gives up his plush job to work at the Grove, a psychiatric
facility that houses Alicia Berenson, the woman who has killed her husband in
cold blood, and has stayed silent since.
Theo makes it the mission of his life to get Alicia to talk to him. In the
process, he meets all the people that were connected to Alicia at that point of
time.
The
story shuttles between Theo’s rendezvous with Alicia and his research around
her life, and his own personal life, where in he begins suspecting his beloved
wife Kathy of having an illicit affair behind his back.
The
story is slow at the beginning, but catches pace soon. All characters are
intriguing, and Alicia’s diary makes the tale all the more gripping. As Theo
digs about with Alicia’s former colleague and her cousin and aunt, new light is
thrown on the case. Amidst fear that the trust might close down the Grove, it
becomes more important that Theo succeeds in getting Alicia to talk. His
animosity with Christian doesn’t help the cause as Christian is Alicia’s
treating psychiatrist.
Finally
things begin falling into place, and without giving away any spoilers, I can
say that the end is shocking. It takes a while to understand and digest what exactly
happened, and I began questioning what exactly I had read till then.
Considering
the end, I feel the story could have been better if it had been narrated in
third person, as the first person POV raises some confusion and questions.
But
other than that, the story is amazing, and keeps one hooked till the end.
My
rating : 3.5 stars
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