Author: Alex Michaelides
A psychological thriller about a woman accused of murdering her husband and remaining completely silent for more than six years, and of her eager new psychotherapist, “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides invites readers to explore another’s psyche while reflecting on our own.
The 2019 novel unfolds through two perspectives. Alicia Berenson, the thoughtful artist at the center of the case, speaks through her diary, written in the weeks leading up to her husband’s death. It details her upbringing, marriage, and career during a period of unstable inspiration.
Theo Faber, a new psychotherapist at The Grove, leaves a prestigious London psychiatric hospital to join what many consider a sinking ship. He is driven purely by his obsession with Berenson’s case. He is fascinated by her past.
A true Freudian, Faber believes that adult traits and behaviors are shaped largely by childhood experiences. This theme runs throughout the book, both in Faber’s attempt to unlock Berenson’s mind and explain her silence and in the unraveling of his own life and marriage.
This book’s grip on the reader is almost criminal: You turn the pages hunting for answers and analyses, testing your own loyalties, and questioning what is real. Maybe you’ll place your trust in Faber. May you’ll suspect everyone else in Berenson’s life, painting her as lonely as she painted herself.
And maybe you’ll think again, and again.
Berenson’s only communication after the “incident” is a self-portrait titled “Alcestis,” inspired by Euripides’ play. The painting shows her standing before a blank canvas, holding a paintbrush dripping with red paint, her expression blank, mouth open yet silent, staring directly at the viewer.
With its layered psychology and mythic undertones, “The Silent Patient” leaves the reader haunted long after the final page. Michaelides is also the author of “The Maidens” and “The Fury.”
