Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient

Have you read The Silent Patient by Alex Michalides and have ALL the questions? Need a list of characters, a timeline, or a plot summary? Want to talk about the ending? You are in the right place: my Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient!

Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient

Table of Contents for the Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for the Silent Patient

• Characters in The Silent Patient
• Plot Summary of The Silent Patient – this WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS
• Timeline of The Silent Patient
• Spoiler Discussion for The Silent Patient
• Movie and TV Adaptations of The Silent Patient and The Maidens (new page)

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Characters in The Silent Patient

• Gabriel Berenson – a fashion photographer. Died 6 years ago at age 44.
• Alicia Berenson – a 39 year old painter. She was 33 at the time of her husband’s murder and has been in the Grove, a psychiatric hospital for six years. Fears she has inherited her mother’s mental health issues, as her mom attempted suicide with Alicia in the car. 
• Theo Faber – A 42 year old forensic psychotherapist who accepts a job at the Grove hoping to treat Alicia. Theo and his wife Kathy met while in relationships with other people, her boyfriend Daniel and his girlfriend Marianne.
• Kathy – an American actress and Theo’s wife.
• Ruth – Theo’s longtime therapist and confidante.

Staff and patients at the Grove

• Professor Diomedes – mid-60s, director of the Grove
• Yuri – head nurse at the Grove
• Stephanie – manager of the Grove
• Christian – psychiatrist at the Grove and head of Alicia’s care team. He and Theo knew each other from a prior job.
• Indira – psychotherapist at the Grove
• Rowena – art therapist at the Grove
• Elif – patient at the Grove

Minor Characters

• Paul – Alicia’s cousin
• Max Berenson – Gabriel Berenson’s brother
• Jean-Felix – owner of Alicia’s gallery
• Barbie – Alicia’s former neighbor
• Chief Inspector Allen – he is summoned to the Grove when Theo finds a needle mark on Alicia’s wrist

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Plot Summary of The Silent Patient

First, the book gives us backstory on Alicia and Gabriel Berenson

• Gabriel Berenson was a fashion photographer married to Alicia, an artist.  Six years ago, a neighbor heard shots at their home and called the police.

• Gabriel was found tied to a chair, shot dead. Alicia was covered in blood, her wrists cut. Alicia was alone with the body and her fingerprints were on the gun.

• After her husband’s death, Alicia never spoke again. Alicia’s one “statement” after the trial was a self-portrait she called Alcestis.

• At Alicia’s trial, renowned forensic psychiatrist Lazarus Diomedes argued that Alicia was clinically insane and she was committed to the Grove, a psychiatric hospital in London.

Narrator Theo Faber resolves to work with Alicia

• Forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber sees the job advert and knows he must apply for the job.  Growing up, he  had an abusive father and attempted suicide, but therapy saved him.

• Theo meets with Alicia who refuses to speak. He reads Alicia’s case notes which include repeated incidents of self-harming and an attack on another patient. 

• Theo speaks to Diomedes about adjusting Alicia’s medication. He feels that she’s too heavily medicated for her to speak to him.

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• Alicia’s diary: She reflects on her childhood. Her mother committed suicide by driving her car into a wall … with Alicia in it. Alicia worries she also suffers from mental illness.

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• Theo visits Alicia again and she attacks him. Diomedes gives him six weeks to get her to participate in therapy.

Theo Has His Own Crisis

• Theo goes home and finds emails from another man on his wife Kathy’s computer. 

• Theo goes to his therapist Ruth’s house, distressed. Ruth says that his relationship with Kathy repeats his childhood, trying to please someone who is distant and emotionally unavailable. Theo resolves to leave Kathy.

Back to Theo’s Investigation

• Theo goes to talk to Elif about her altercation with Alicia.  Elif says she asked Alicia if her husband deserved it.

• Gabriel’s brother Max tells Theo that Alicia and Gabriel were happy. He says that Theo should talk to Jean-Felix, the owner of Alicia’s gallery. He says Jean-Felix hated Alicia, and that Alicia tried to kill herself before Gabriel’s murder.

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Alicia’s diary: She hates that Gabriel keeps a gun. Max accused Alicia of kissing him. Alicia thinks Max is jealous of Gabriel. Alicia agrees to have a child with Gabriel.

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• Theo takes the train to Cambridge and finds the Victorian house by the river where Alicia grew up. 

• Alicia’s cousin Paul says that he and his mother moved in with Alicia and her parents after his father died. After Alicia’s mother’s suicide killed, Paul and his mother stayed. Paul says Alicia’s father committed suicide a few years ago.

• Theo goes to Alicia’s gallery. Jean-Felix has known Alicia for years and didn’t know Gabriel well. He shows Theo some of Alicia’s paintings, including Alcestis. Jean-Felix suggests that Theo let Alicia paint.

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Alicia’s Diary: Paul calls from Cambridge. He borrowed money to pay gambling debts. Alicia also reveals she told Jean-Paul she wanted to leave his gallery.

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• Diomedes and Theo discuss the play Alcestis. The main character was condemned to die through her husband’s cowardice. Diomedes approves Theo’s suggestion to let Alicia paint and Theo gets her art supplies from Jean-Felix.

• Theo sets up an art studio in the Grove for Alicia. She paints two people – Alicia and Theo – escaping a fire at the Grove.

• Alicia’s former neighbor Barbie comes to the Grove. She tells Theo that Alicia was seeing a doctor and that she doesn’t believe that Alicia killed her husband.

• Barbie says there was a man watching Alicia and that Alicia texted her a photo of the man. Barbie told the police but they ignored her.

• Theo arrives at the Grove to find that Elif has been stabbed in the eye by Alicia after Elif defaced her painting. Elif also told Alicia that Theo was in love with her.

• Theo meets with Alicia, who gives him her journal.

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Alicia’s journal: She’s seen a man outside the house, watching her. She goes to see Alcestis (the play) with Jean-Felix. She sees Alcestis as a character who dies and is reborn. Jean-Felix insinuates she shouldn’t trust Gabriel. She sees the man following her several more times and snaps a photo of him. Alicia goes to see a therapist, Dr. West. He reminds her that after her father’s death she had a breakdown and thought she was being followed. She runs through the possible suspects and believes Max might be responsible. 

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• Theo reads Alicia’s journal and decides he must speak to Dr. West … who is Christian, from the Grove. Theo tells Christian he’s read Alicia’s diary. Christian says he was a friend of Gabriel’s and saw Alicia as a favor. He claims Alicia had a history of paranoia.

• Theo gives Alicia back her diary and tells her he’s on her side.

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Theo follows Kathy as she meets a man with dark hair. He watches them have sex in a park.

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• Theo meets Paul, who admits asking Alicia for money but says she refused to give it to him. He also reveals that he and Alicia liked to sit on the roof of the house. There, Alicia overheard her father saying he wished Alicia had died in the accident instead of her mother.

Alicia Speaks!!

• Theo meets with Alicia and tells her he knows what her father said. He says their therapy will be terminated unless she cooperates. Alicia finally speaks, saying “okay.”

• Their next session, Alicia talks more. She and Theo walk in the courtyard, smoking, and she tells her story.

• Alicia says that the night of the murder, Gabriel called to say he was coming home late.  She was in her studio working when a man in a mask appeared behind her. He had a knife and forced her into the house. She went to get Gabriel’s gun, but the man had it. The man tied her to a chair with wire.

• Gabriel came home and the man hit Gabriel with the gun, knocking him out. He dragged Gabriel to a chair and tied him up. When Gabriel regained consciousness, the man shot him, then walked out.

• Theo doesn’t believe Alicia’s story. Gabriel was shot five times, not six. The police didn’t find Alicia tied up. Diomedes thinks Alicia imagined the man, and that Alicia is playing on Theo’s emotions.

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• Theo follows Kathy again, who meets her lover. Theo follows the man all the way home. He wants to kill him.

• Theo arrives at work and finds out that Alicia is in a coma. They found an empty pill bottle in her room and assumed she overdosed. But Theo finds a needle mark on Alicia’s wrist. Someone injected her with morphine!

• Diomedes is worried the Grove will be shut down. Christian saw the drugs cabinet unlocked and thinks that’s how Alicia got the drugs. Theo says Christian is lying and tells Diomedes about Christian treating Alicia previously. He suggests this was an attempt to murder Alicia and Diomedes calls the police. Inspector Allen arrives to take statements.

The Two Storylines Converge: We finally find out who Kathy is sleeping with in The Silent Patient

• Theo watches Kathy’s lover’s wife through her window. She comes out of the house to go into her studio and he’s face to face with her.

• Kathy’s lover’s wife is … Alicia. Kathy is sleeping with Gabriel Berenson.

• Yes, the book has fooled us with a timeline trick. The plot line about Theo following Kathy takes place in the past, before Gabriel was murdered.

Alicia’s Diary: Theo seems familiar to her. She recognized him as the man who killed Gabriel, which is why she attacked him . When she told Theo the story of Gabriel’s death, she deliberately lied. Then Gabriel stuck a needle into her wrist.

What Happened the Night Gabriel Died in the Silent Patient?

According to Alicia’s diary, the night of Gabriel’s death, Theo tied her up, knocked Gabriel out, then tied them both up back to back. Alicia pleaded for her husband’s life. Theo told Gabriel he could choose: his life or Alicia’s. Gabriel chooses himself. Theo fired into the ceiling, making Gabriel think Alicia was dead. Theo untied Alicia and walked out.

Who Killed Gabriel in The Silent Patient?

• In her journal, Alicia admits to shooting Gabriel after Theo left. She says, “I didn’t kill Gabriel, Gabriel killed me. All I did was pull the trigger.”

• After learning that Gabriel cheated on her and listening to Gabriel tell Theo to kill Alicia rather than him, Alicia was taken back to her father wishing that she, not her mother, had died.

• Indira and Theo are clearing out Alicia’s room. Theo reflects, “I never thought Alicia would shoot Gabriel.” Theo just wanted Alicia to know that her husband didn’t love her. He didn’t know that Alicia’s father had wished her dead. When Theo realized Alicia recognized him, he had to kill her. Now he can’t find her diary.

• A man named Julian McMahon from NHS Trust shows up. Diomedes has resigned and Julian has come to tell Theo that they are shutting down the Grove. He offers Theo a new job elsewhere.

What is the Ending of The Silent Patient?

Theo goes home to Kathy and mentions Alicia’s overdose. Kathy has no reaction. Inspector Allen shows up to talk to Theo. He mentions that Jean-Felix took Alicia’s new work and that Alicia’s diary was wedged inside it.

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Help Me Understand the Twist? Timeline for the Silent Patient

Theo is a classic unreliable narrator.

The tricky thing about The Silent Patient is that without the reader knowing, Theo’s narration switches between six years ago and the present. In the past, Theo learns Kathy is cheating on him. He then follows her, finds her lover, stalks him and his wife, and breaks into their house.

There are actually two timelines in the book. The first is Theo’s obsession with his wife and the fact that he thinks she’s cheating on him. When Alicia feels like someone is watching her, it’s Theo. Then the second timeline, which occurs later, is Theo’s attempts to get Alicia to talk.

Six Years Ago

Theo learns his wife is cheating. He follows her and sees her with Gabriel. He starts lurking outside Gabriel and Alicia’s house. Alicia sees him and tells her neighbor. Then Theo breaks into the house and gives Gabriel the choice of killing him or Alicia. Gabriel chooses Alicia.

Gabriel is shot dead and Alicia is committed to the Grove, a psychiatric hospital.

Six years later

If you’ve read The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, this is the point the two stories intersect. Theo consults on a case, and Mariana (of The Maidens) tells him about the job at the Grove, suggesting he apply and get Alicia to talk.

Theo gets the job at the Grove. He gets Alicia to talk, and gets her to hand over journal (except those last crucial pages).

But then he realizes she might recognize him, so he injects her with morphine, putting her into a coma.

Then sometime later (it’s winter, and Theo meets with Mariana in October and then again in February before the Grove shuts down, so how much time has passed is unclear) the missing journal pages are found.

Finally, Alicia gets to tell her side of the story, and Theo’s involvement in the crime is revealed.

Check out my spoiler-free post about the crossover characters and places between The Silent Patient and The Maidens!

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Spoiler Discussion for The Silent Patient

So first, I did love the twist in this book. I didn’t even mind the sneaky timeline because I thought it was really clever. Well played!

Okay, I have questions:

Theo is a guy who clearly feels guilty SIX YEARS LATER and/or just can’t leave well enough alone!

First, why does Theo wait six years after Gabriel’s murder to apply for the job at the Grove and find out if Alicia remembers him? Maybe that was his first opportunity?

Then, when he sees that Alicia is over-medicated and catatonic, he still can’t leave well enough alone. He gets her meds dialed back, gets her to talk, gets her journal … does no one at the Grove mention this journal to Theo or at all? Did I miss something? How did a patient in a secure psychiatric hospital have a “small leather-bound journal” that no one knows about?

Then, he realizes she might recognize him and he has to kill her. And then he gets away with it, as the Grove staff thinks she got hold of pills and overdosed. But he points out the needle mark!

So Theo DIDN’T SHOOT GABRIEL but then attempts to murder Alicia. Is this a case of “the cover-up is always worse than the crime?” Or a case of “Alicia murdered me, I just injected the morphine?”

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Thanks for stopping by my Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient!

I want to know ALL your thoughts on The Silent Patient so please leave a comment. You can subscribe to the entire discussion or just to replies to your comment.

If you are an Alex Michealides super-fan, I have some more posts for you:

Review of the Maidens – spoiler free!

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Spoiler Review and Plot Summary for the Maidens – we have a LOT to discuss about this book. It has some similar elements to The Silent Patient, but then wow, there’s a lot to talk about.

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This World of The Silent Patient and the Maidens post is new and super fun – it goes over all the crossovers between the two books: characters, places, timeline, and more. Check it out and let me know if I missed anything. It’s spoiler-free!

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Movie and TV Adaptations of The Silent Patient and The Maidens: What Do We Know So Far?