The English Patient

The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian campaign of World War II: an unrecognizably burned man—the eponymous patient who is presumed to be English—his Canadian Army nurse; a Sikh sapper; and a Canadian self-described thief. The story is primarily set during the North African campaign and centers on the incremental revelations of the patient's actions prior to his injuries, and the emotional effects of these revelations on the other characters. The story is told through the characters' perspectives and "authors" of books the characters are reading.

The book is a sequel to the 1987 novel In the Skin of a Lion. It continues the story of characters Hana and Caravaggio, and reveals the fate of Patrick Lewis, the main character of the 1987 novel. It won the 1992 Booker Prize, the 1992 Governor General's Award, and the 2018 Golden Man Booker.

The English Patient was adapted as a 1996 film of the same name, starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas.

In 2022, the novel was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.