Book review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The book is a psychological thriller novel that debuted in 2019. The story is about a lady named Alice Berenson, a famous painter, who was married to a fashion photographer, Gabriel. They had a perfect life, seemingly so. One day, Gabriel returns home late from a photoshoot, and Alice shoots him in the face five times and then never utters a word, even during the trial; her silence lasts for about six years. She was, therefore, declared insane and admitted to a secure medical facility in North London as a sentence.

After being arrested for the murder, Alicia paints a painting tilted Alcestis, where Alicia is the woman depicted in the painting. The painting represents Alcestis, a drama by Euripides, performed in 438 BCE. The Greek mythology concerns the imminent death of King Admetus, who is advised that he will be allowed to live if he can find someone willing to die in his place. Alcestis, his wife, gives up her life before she recognizes that the fact and manner of her dying will blight his life. Admetus’s old friend Heracles appears just in time to rescue Alcestis from the clutches of death and restore her to her relieved husband. After she is revived, Alcestis remains silent because of hurt and anger.

Alicia watched a production of the play days before the murder, presumably inspiring the painting. The Alcestis painting ends…