Review: The Silent Patient

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Alicia Berenson murdered her husband; she shot him in the head multiple times with a shotgun. That was six years ago and she has resided at a Home for mental patients, The Grove, ever since the trial. Alicia was found covered in blood standing in front of a strange painting she'd completed after the murder. She was an artist and the painting was to be the last " word " she'd spoken. She said nothing when arrested, nothing during the trial that resulted in a plea of diminished responsibility and her confinement at the Grove, and nothing since that commitment.

A young psychotherapist, Theo Faber, was fascinated by the press coverage of the murder and even went to the gallery in which her final painting was exhibited. The story and the painting haunted him and he wished he could meet its artist but he was working at another institution. But as chance would have it, a position opened at The Grove and Theo applied and was hired. At last, he would have an opportunity to try to treat the silent Alicia. Her background resonated with him, since his childhood and hers had some similarities that he wished to explore.

And so begins the interaction between patient and therapist, which becomes ever more intense and personal. Disturbing really and I felt a nagging feeling that there was more than this random connection between the two. When the twist is revealed, it is a shock on the one hand and somehow not surprising on another. The revelations of Alicia's background and her relationships as well as the story of Theo's life both keep the reader going, trying to figure out whether or not Alicia killed Gabriel. If she did, why? He was the love of her life and that life seemed so perfect. If she didn't, then who did and why? But even more confounding, why isn't Alicia Berenson speaking??

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