Book Review: The Silent Patient

*Spoilers Ahead*

After hearing countless raves and reviews of this book from my classmates, I finally caved and read The Silent Patient. And I have to say, I’m glad that I did because this book was eye opening, in the most unique way.

To start, this novel is a breakaway from the other, more conventional books I typically read. Rather than surface level themes and plot, the true meaning of the story lies beneath the surface. Nothing is to be taken at face value, and the story constantly throws you in different directions. There is no way to discern what is happening in the moment, what is true and what is not, until the very end, where the truth about the matter is revealed.

Alicia Berenson, a seemingly disturbed woman, has been admitted to a psychiatric facility due to her recent alleged murder of her husband. Theo Faber, a psychotherapist who has expressed his interest in her paintings, believes that there is more to the truth than this, and seeks to approach her in the hopes of learning more about what truly happened.

The end of the book throws us all off, though. Everything that we’ve seen happen, everything we’ve heard, Theo’s whole backstory… it makes us lose trust in all of it. The timelines become warped, and we don’t know who is truly the protagonist, because all characters seem to be foils of each other. It’s true that Alicia’s childhood had messed her up leading to her distrust toward men and eventual murder of her husband, but the blame is shared between many different characters. Even those who aren’t directly involved.

Starting with the main characters. Theo led to the overall confrontation by following Gabriel, who had an affair with his wife, back to his house. He wished to expose his adultery to Alicia, and although he did not think she would take it this far, the blame undeniably lies with him for not thinking about all the possible consequences of what he was about to do. Kathy, his wife, also shares the blame. Kathy, as described by Theo’s past therapist, Ruth, is incapable of truly loving another person. She enjoys excitement and short bursts of liveliness, but cannot enjoy the calm and comfortable feelings that accompany love. Theo on the other hand, was deeply in love with Kathy, and believed that she felt the same way. Kathy should have communicated with Theo rather than finding another man behind his back, and the same goes for Gabriel, who should not have lied to Alicia and found another woman behind her back. 

Of course, Alicia shares some blame as well. It is shown that Alicia had never truly told anyone about her past with her father when Theo goes to visit her cousin, Paul. Perhaps if she had explained more about her trauma to Gabriel he would have been more accommodating and less inclined to follow another woman, but it’s also equally likely that Gabriel would not have taken her words to heart. This book truly shows the selfish nature of humankind, as everyone is looking out for themselves, without a glance behind them at the people they are hurting.

It is undeniable that the biggest shock in the novel comes from the revelation of Theo’s true character. He paints himself as an ordinary man, although he does admit that his childhood abuse may have had some effect on his personality as an adult. He feels strong emotions, such as love and remorse, and there is nothing to give away the fact that he, too, had strong distrust toward the people he loved due to the scars his father left him with. His wariness toward Kathy was warranted through her cheating, leading to him giving nothing away about his true character. This leads to another revelation about human nature, that maybe we are all distrustful of others. We could have given Kathy the benefit of the doubt, but it was set in stone that she would be the antagonist from that point forward, so we stuck with it.

Moving on from that, the second biggest shock was seeing that Yuri was the one dealing drugs in the Grove. Yuri, the welcoming man from abroad whom everyone felt safer around, who made an effort to get to know the staff, and who no one ever laid a distrustful eye on. This was probably the reason it took so long for anyone to find out, too. Since it seemed incredulous for him of all people to be the supplier. This also reminds me of when it was mentioned that Christian would repeatedly complain about Yuri leaving the drug cabinet unlocked. Not a soul believed Christian, since who would believe the cold, cynical man instead of the warm, welcoming one? Christian was right, but he ended up being a scapegoat until the very end. Theo threw him under the bus when he sensed danger, revealing that he used to serve as a private therapist behind doors, receiving money without documentation. As one tangent leads to another, they all prove that no one is in the right. Everyone is at fault, everyone shares the blame. There is no good or bad in this story.

To those of you still reading, I highly encourage you to read the book if you have not already done so. My explanations do not represent even a fragment of the true impact of the book, and I guarantee that the story will keep you gripped throughout its entirety. Just remember one thing: Not everything is as it seems.