It also had an extraordinary ending I just didn’t see coming.Synopsis for The Silent Patient: Alicia Berenson is married to a successful fashion photographer.
It does not rely on flashy or pacey action scenes, but still creates plenty of and twists and tension. It is less an investigation of a crime and more an investigation of the criminal’s mind. It is obviously a meticulously planned book, with multiple timelines and story-telling mediums, including the emergence of the narrator as a character and the parallels with the Greek tragedy of Alcestis. The real art however lies in the way he slowly and methodically develops the main characters, slowly and immersive unravelling their mental state. He was inspired to write it while doing a post-graduate course in psychotherapy and working part-time in a secure psychiatric unit for two years and it is therefore premised on strong knowledge and research.
#The silent patient questions movie
It is Michaelides debut crime-suspense novel and has already received widespread praise, selling over a million copies worldwide and now subject to a movie deal.
The Silent Patient is a psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns. He becomes consumed with trying to get Alicia to talk but, in unraveling her mystery, Theo himself becomes unraveled. He gets her medication reduced by going above her doctor’s head. He tries talking to people who knew Alicia, her brother in law, her art dealer. He gets the job at The Grove and sets out to save Alicia.
Theo has issues too – he was abused as a child and his wife, Kathy is cheating on him. He wants to help Alicia, heal her, fix her.Īfter waiting years, a position becomes available at The Grove and he applies for it. We then learn that the narrator of the story is Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, who is fascinated with Alicia. The judge is swayed by the testimony of Professor Diomedes, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Imperial College and clinical director of The Grove, where Alicia is subsequently admitted.
#The silent patient questions trial
Her notoriety causes the price of her artwork to skyrocket.ĭuring her trial the defense enters a plea of diminished responsibility given Alicia’s history of mental health problems. She completes a painting a few days after the murder, a self-portrait entitled ALCESTIS.Īlcestis is a heroine in Greek mythology who sacrifices her life to save her husband.Īlicia is condemned for the painting and some consider it to be a confession. She doesn’t write, she barely eats, she barely sleeps. She is silent when she is charged with Gabriel’s murder. Police are called and Alicia is found, standing by the body of her husband who has been shot in the face five times, frozen with terror, a gun on the floor nearby.Īlicia also has wounds, deep cuts to her wrists.Īlicia is silent when she is questioned by police the following day.
In ‘The Silent Patient’, we first meet Alicia six years after she killed her husband, Gabriel.Īt the time of the murder they were living a seemingly perfect life in a beautiful house in north-west London – Alicia was 33 and a celebrated painter and Gabriel 44, a successful fashion photographer.Ī neighbor hears gun shots around 11:30 at night. She didn’t want to, but she was urged by Gabriel to write down her thoughts – Gabriel has sensed Alicia is depressed.Īlicia thought she was hiding it, but he noticed – he notices everything.Īlicia loves Gabriel very much and doesn’t want to cause him any concern, so she writes about joyous things, “no crazy thoughts allowed”.
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