The Patient

Product Information

And then the patient himself. Again, is it Rachel’s self-obsession or is he really the shallow stereotype he seems? In late 1926, Agatha's husband, Archie, revealed that he was in love with another woman, Nancy Neele, and wanted a divorce. On 8 December 1926 the couple quarreled, and Archie Christie left their house, Styles, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming, Surrey. That same evening Agatha disappeared from her home, leaving behind a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire. Her disappearance caused an outcry from the public, many of whom were admirers of her novels. Despite a massive manhunt, she was not found for eleven days. And what about Alicia’s silence?? The mystery at the heart of the book - in the very title itself. The big reveal, the big answer shrouded in suspense and mystery .... the reason she didn’t talk was because she felt she had nothing to say??? Because she felt like she was dead too?? Wait... what? Seriously? She’s been accused of murdering her husband, while the man who stalks her, breaks in to her home, ties her up and threatens to kill her later shows up as her therapist, while she allows her other therapist to continue drugging her with “horse dosage” amounts of sedatives - but oh well, silence for years and years because she felt dead and had nothing to say?? And she stays silent mind you, while she still manages to hide her diary?!? We can only assume she goes to extreme measures to keep the police from ever finding it? Even though they walk in right after the murder while she’s still holding the smoking gun - I guess they gave her time to gather her things and somehow hide a diary down her pants while she was brought to prison?? Not to mention how no one found it when she was transferred to the mental hospital?! Why go to so much trouble to hide a diary if you feel like you’re dead and you have nothing to say!?

We have a few ‘ugly’ characters who are either ‘ mad’ and or violent ( Elif, a ‘massive’ Turkish woman, who spends her time shouting or grunting because she is a patient and that’s how ‘ugly’ and mentally ill people behave. Lydia, Alicia’s mean aunt. She is grotesquely ‘fat’ and has lots of cats. She basically just glares, scorns, and spits at people). Paul, Alicia’s cousin, still lives with his mother so he looks like ‘virgin’ and in spite his size he seems ‘stunted’. Kathy and Gabriel are the antithesis of credible (actors and fashion photographers manage to be self-engrossed and 1 dimensional). We have Gabriel’s brother...who is the typical chip-on-my-shoulder character (he has acne, he is balding, he is just a ‘lawyer’, boohoo). Jean-Felix owns a gallery so he is the embodiment of some sort of art-vampire.

Need Help?

I've been a bit hesitant about writing this review since the majority of readers really enjoyed this debut. However since Goodreads allows us to express and respect our different opinions I don't see any harm in being honest. I didn't hate The Silent Patient but I did find this novel both ridiculous and incompetent.

Stream It Or Skip It: 'My Christmas Hero' on GAF, Where A Military Man Helps A Doctor Find Family History and Lasting LoveThe youngest of three children of the Miller family. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.