#alex michaelides

Today, I present you a semi-fiery and recent tirade, when I haven’t even finished the book – “The Maiden” by Alex Michaelides. I bought his debut book “The Silent Patient” in 2021; the title caught my eye and I was trying to come out of my filthy reader’s block, so when a quick search and the first google review of the book said “Best psychological thriller novel” I grabbed and bought the book in an instant. Then maybe I finished reading the first part of the book and tucked the book under my lecture notes and thesis drafts…and I just forgot about it. In 2022, I saw a reel about the book on Instagram and suddenly felt the urge to finish the book. I’m glad that I did. Long story short, after the twist is revealed the rest of the plot felt kind of…. rushed and bland. I didn’t hate the ending but mundane endings to psychological thriller novels feels off to me as a reader.

Now, coming to “The Maiden”; from my experience of the first book and the prologue of this one, I became conscious of the protagonist, Mariana and her thought process. I have completed two of five parts and I believe I have been introduced to most of the characters (I hope so, any more characters and my brain will fcking explode while keeping up with the characters – not the plot lmao). “The Maiden” -s story starts with Mariana, amidst her own struggles to figure out her own thoughts, finds herself solving the murder case of three students, one of which is a close friend of her niece, Zoe. All three student belonged to a special group, dare I say, a mini cult-like secret society type shii- selected and managed by Edward Fosca, An American, charismatic professor of Greek Tragedy – hence the name of that group and the book “The Maiden”.

The story starts with our grieving protagonist – Mariana, who still even after a year or so after her first love and husband – Sebastians death, finds herself unable to move on, to cope with her day-to-day life and responsibilities. Mariana is a trained psychotherapist with specialization in group-therapy and we get to know about a few of the group members. In that group we see Henry, a very disturbed individual with a sad and dark history for this reason Mariana feels a certain soft spot for him and Henry being deprived of care and love for such a long time, he mixes her way of comforting him and trying to guide him in a good place with his obsessive kind of love; where he intentionally hurts himself just so Mariana feels sorry for him and takes care of him (You think Henry makes you angry? Wait till you get to know about Sebastian and Edward Fosca; believe me when I tell you that if I was in Mariana’s place? I’d start throwing fists from the very start). I don’t know if Henry appears again in the other parts but I hope he does, in a revitalization kinda way.

While her group-therapy session ends, she has a heated alteration with Henry where it is revealed Henry’s complex feelings about Mariana is not normal – it’s on a obsessive, toxic, stalker level. But this confrontation between them and Henry's attemps to manipulate Mariana gets cut off when Zoe calls her (M) telling about a news cover on a murder in Cambridge which Zoe says the body might be of her best friend, Tara (Yes, it is. And the body and how the murder happened? brutal).

Couple of little side notes that I should've included before but forgot to add (I mean what a rattling tattle, grammer-allergic, vocab-light human buffer like me gonna do? I have to much to say, type but my english has high ping) : 1. Mariana and Sebastian, lovers then married, both were students at Cambridge University; different majors though. Zoe is in Year 2 I guess at the same university. 2. Zoe's both parents (Zoe's mom is Mariana's sister) died in a car accident when she was just six years old. After this, Zoe grew up under Mariana and Sebastians care. 3. Zoe's love for her uncle Sebastian is on another level.

From this phone call, to Mariana taking a decision to go to Zoe and stay with her, to get tangled with the ongoing murder case and taking the initiaive to discover the truth of Tara's murder - is very fast... Like all of these happen in a couple of chapters. We get to see a character named Frederick or Fred, who appears for a very short moments. He's kind of a clumsy "golden retriver" type of guy, which makes him more suspicious (?)

Coming to Edward Fosca, who's believed to be the murderer of Tara by Zoe. Zoe points out somethings that are not yet proven or are very vague that makes Mariana very conscious of him too. Edward Fosca is silver-tongued, charismatic, sly fox type of person. His exclusive society or inner circle or should I say a carefully curated set of special "female" students seemed to me as insular and dogmatic... I suppose I can say that. His and the female students behaiviour is also making me, as a reader think that they might be somewhat if not entirely connected to the murder. God bless Mariana so she can get a grip on herself and solve a muder case and we get a triumphant version of herself.

BUT IT'S TOO OBVIOUS, TOO SIMPLE TO COME TO THAT CONCLUSION WHEN I HAVE THREE MORE PARTS TO FINISH.

I mean, woudn't be a psychological thriller if the murderer, the motive doesnt change for AT LEAST two times.

But till now everything impiles Edwards is the killer although the murder motive's still not clear.

Comments on the parts I've read: