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Cover of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Silent Patient

  • 352 pages · about 6 hours
  • First published 2019
  • 26 editions

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1 About this book

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. 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.

  • Thrillers
  • Marriage
  • Psychological fiction
  • Artists
  • Family violence
  • London (england)

2 What to expect

A psychological thriller about a painter who shot her husband and never spoke again, and the therapist determined to reach her. Short chapters alternate with her diary, building to a big twist.

Good for readers who want: a thriller, psychology, and a twist ending.

3 About Alex Michaelides

Born 1977

Alex Michaelides (Greek: Άλεξ Μιχαηλίδης; born 1977) is a bestselling British Cypriot author and screenwriter. His debut novel, the psychological thriller The Silent Patient, is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, with over 6.5 million copies sold.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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