Theo is determined to find out why Alicia killed Gabriel and why she won’t speak.

Although The Grove’s manager, Stephanie Clarke, wants to shut down Theo’s sessions with Alicia, Lazarus Diomedes, clinical director at The Grove, intervenes and decides to give Theo six weeks to get Alicia to talk. In their next session, Alicia is more alert-and physically attacks him. Determined to communicate with Alicia, Theo requests that they lower her dosage. In his first session with Alicia, Theo finds her heavily medicated by her primary therapist, Christian West. Alicia’s high-profile case has captivated him for years. Theo is starting a new job at The Grove, a position he pursued with the aim of working with Alicia. At the start, it’s six years after the murder. The narrative moves in part through Theo’s present-day narration and in part through Alicia’s old diary, which recounts the weeks leading up to Gabriel’s murder. The only clue as to her state of mind following the murder is a self-portrait she created, and signed with “ALCESTIS.” She was committed to a mental institution, The Grove. Authorities discovered Alicia at the scene: She had shot Gabriel five times in the head and then slit her wrists. Alicia is a painter who murdered her husband Gabriel Berenson six years earlier. Note: The novel deals with potentially triggering issues, including suicide, murder, mental/physical abuse, mental illness, and trauma.įorensic psychotherapist Theo Faber, 42, narrates The Silent Patient by introducing its main plotline: the mystery of Alicia Berenson. This study guide refers to the Astramare Ltd Edition version, published in 2019. Upon publication, the novel went to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

He resides in London, where The Silent Patient is set.

Alex Michaelides is Cypriot-American author and screenwriter.

The silent patient by alex michaelides