book cover by Alex Michaelides

What Can You Learn From Silence?

Click To Read An Excerpt

Author: Alex Michaelides
Publisher: Celadon Books (February 5, 2019)

  • Hardback: 336 pages
  • Audio Book: 8 hours and 43 minutes
  • CD Book: 8 hours and 44 minutes
  • Kindle: 304 pages

Alicia Berenson is residing in the Grove where she’s been housed since being convicted of shooting her fashion photographer husband, Gabriel. But the Grove hasn’t been able to help her very much, if at all, since she has remained silent after the death of her husband.

Psychotherapist Theo Faber narrates this story. He shares that he was able to obtain a job at the Grove and he is in hopes of being able to follow the case of the silent patient and even to participate in her treatment. He feels hopeful that he might be able to offer help and even encourage her to speak.

Alicia’s therapists at the Grove reluctantly agree to let Theo work with her since they haven’t been able to make headway with her treatment. As this is happening the reader begins to learn more about Theo Faber’s life as a child as well as his current marriage. We learn that he chose a degree in therapy to help others since he has experienced such a troubling life.

But will he be able to help Alicia Berenson?

My Thoughts

What Concerned Me: I will no doubt sound a bit vague since I don’t want to disclose too much about the story, but I do read many thrillers, and I wouldn’t label this as a thriller.

And contrary to many reviews and ratings, the book was a bit tough for me to care much about. It felt strung out and slow.

I even had a hard time connecting with the characters.

3 STARS

And lastly, while the surprise/twist was interesting, it wasn’t enough to carry the book, for me at least.

What I Liked Most: This doesn’t happen too often, and surprisingly almost never when the book has been hailed by so many readers, but I can’t think of much I cared for.

However, don’t pass the book up if you’ve been thinking about reading it. I am obviously in the minority when it comes to its ratings. Give it a try! I’d be interested in your thoughts.

author of the silent patient
Alex Michaelides

Alex was born in Cyprus in 1977 to a Greek father and English mother. He studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Brits are Coming (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey, and Sofia Vergara. THE SILENT PATIENT is his first novel.

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