''The Silent Patient'' is a 2019

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

novel written by British–Cypriot author

Alex Michaelides Alex Michaelides (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 ...

. The successful

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

was published by Celadon Books, a division of

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, on 5 February 2019. The audiobook version, released on the same date, is read by

Louise Brealey Louise Brealey (born 27 March 1979), also credited as Loo Brealey, is an English actress, writer and journalist. She played Molly Hooper in '' Sherlock'', Cass in ''Back'', Scottish professor Jude McDermid in ''Clique'', Gillian Chamberlain in ...

and

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

. The story is

narrated A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). N ...

by an English psychotherapist, Theo Faber, dealing with a patient who turns

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

after murdering her husband. Upon its release, the book debuted on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list at No.1. It later won the Goodreads Choice Award 2019 in the Mystery and Thriller category.

Writing

On writing his debut novel, author Michaelides, who is also a screenwriter, said, "I was feeling very disillusioned as a screenwriter. I kept seeing scripts being mangled in the production and this sense of frustration made me decide to sit down and finally write a novel." He rewrote the draft around 50 times before finalizing it. The

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

tragedy ''

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from ...

'', by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

, served as an inspiration for the plot, while its narrative structure was influenced by

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's writing. Michaelides decided to

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

his novel in a psychiatric unit as he had worked at a secure psychiatric facility for teenagers while he was a psychotherapy student.

Reception

The novel received generally positive reviews from critics. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' lauded the book for its plot, characters and style, writing: "

he book is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

vivid enough to warrant devouring it in a day ... the writing is scalpel-sharp and uncluttered, the style spare and concise, uncrowded with extraneous detail."''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' concurred, praising its "tight, uncluttered prose" and "skillful building ftension until the novel's shocking denouement". ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

'' called it "an intelligent plot coupled with an interesting character study, and finally the impactful punch that leaves you flabbergasted." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' praised the plot as "fresh" but criticised its "hacky horror tropes, trite scenes and comically shifty

red herring A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fis ...

characters." Another negative review came from ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', who panned the book as "clumsy, contrived, and silly ... with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Patient Novels set in London Nonlinear narrative novels 2019 debut novels British mystery novels 2019 British novels Macmillan Publishers books