The Silent Patient
Alicia Berenson was a famous painter living a seemingly perfect life. Then she shot her husband five times in the face and never spoke another word.
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What you might want to know about The Silent Patient
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
London painter Alicia Berenson shoots her photographer husband Gabriel five times in the face and never speaks again, going to a secure psychiatric unit called the Grove. Six years later, forensic therapist Theo Faber takes a job at the Grove with one goal, to make Alicia talk.
Yes. A film adaptation of The Silent Patient is in development with Plan B Entertainment producing. The project was announced in 2019 and remains in development, with no confirmed release date.
No. The Silent Patient is fictional. Alex Michaelides has cited Greek myth, particularly the story of Alcestis, as a key inspiration, but the events and characters are invented.
No. The Silent Patient is a standalone novel. Alex Michaelides has written two later standalone thrillers, The Maidens and The Fury, but none share characters with The Silent Patient.
The Silent Patient is a psychological thriller without significant sexual content. There is some violence and references to murder and abuse, but the focus is on suspense and unreliable narration rather than graphic scenes.
The Silent Patient was written by Alex Michaelides, published in 2019 by Celadon Books.
The Silent Patient is 352 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Silent Patient takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
The Silent Patient is a standalone novel by Alex Michaelides, not part of a series.
The Silent Patient is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
