by Alex Michaelides
SYNOPSIS
From the author of the global #1 bestselling debut The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding literary thriller which weaves together Greek mythology, psychology, and murder...
St Christopher's College, Cambridge, is a closed world to most.
For Mariana Andros - a group therapist struggling through her private grief - it's where she met her late husband. For her niece, Zoe, it's the tragic scene of her best friend's murder.
As memory and mystery entangle Mariana, she finds a society full of secrets, which has been shocked to its core by the murder of one of its own.
Because behind its idyllic beauty is a web of jealousy and rage which emanates from an exclusive set of students known only as The Maidens. A group under the sinister influence of the enigmatic professor Edward Fosca.
A man who seems to know more than anyone about the murders - and the victims. And the man who will become the prime suspect in Mariana's investigation - an obsession which will unravel everything...
The Maidens is a story of love, and of grief - of what makes us who we are, and what makes us kill.
REVIEW
I didn't read The Silent Patient until last year, but once I did, it turned out to be one of my favourites. I was so excited when I heard that Alex Michaelides had a new book coming out but did think that the first would be hard to beat. After reading it, I can honestly say that The Maidens was in a league of its own - and I am completely obsessed with this book! After such magnificent success, there will inevitably be comparisons to The Silent Patient. The way I looked at it was summed up perfectly by one of the Tennyson quotes which were dotted throughout the story - it felt "the same, but not the same". It had all of the elements I loved from The Silent Patient - it was addictive to read, full of unexpected twists and turns, it was beautifully written and also had an underlying sadness about it. There was even a reference to a character from The Silent Patient which, for fans of that novel, was a really nice touch. This allusion put the two stories together in the same 'universe' but I never felt like The Maidens was just trying to recreate the first story. At its heart, The Maidens is a thriller and a murder mystery. But, at the same time, it is also an exploration of grief, interwoven with elements of Greek Mythology, ritual, dark academia, literature and psychology. Deaths are not included for shock value, they allow the author to use his knowledge of psychotherapy to explore the characters reactions to those deaths, and the way people behave in challenging situations. Even though I am a thriller fanatic, the thing that hit me straight away was actually how accurate and moving the descriptions of loss, grief and heartbreak were. It really helped to establish the mind-frame of Mariana, the main character. In terms of the thriller aspects of the book, at one point I was slightly disappointed as I was convinced I had the ending completely sussed out, but after several shocking revelations, I was happily proven wrong!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alex Michaelides was born and raised in Cyprus. He has a MA in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and a MA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patient was his first novel. It spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and sold in a record-breaking 49 countries. He lives in London.
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, @WNBooks, @FMCAssociates and @AlexMichaelides for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Psychological Fiction / Thriller / Murder Mystery / Dark Academia
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1409181668
Pages: 368 pp
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