My dentist told me I had to read Alex Michaelides' psychological thriller The Silent Patient (#902). She promised I wouldn't see the final twist coming. I know it was popular recently, but I never did get around to reading it.
I'm sorry to say that as soon as I finished reading it, my very first thought was "What drivel!" I wish I had spent the time reading about more worthwhile and likeable characters. If you're not familiar with the premise of the novel, Alicia is a famous painter who is found standing next to her husband's body within three minutes of a neighbor calling the police after hearing multiple gunshots next door. Only Alicia's prints are found on the gun, but she refuses to say what happened. Five years later, she's in a forensic psychiatric unit, still refusing to speak...
Let's just all leave her there.
Really, the most interesting thing about this book was its references to Alcestis of Greek mythology. There are several versions of her story, but Euripides' play is probably the most well known. Alcestis' husband Ametus is doomed by the Fates to die unless he can find someone to die in his place. After an unsuccessful search, Alcestis volunteers, growing ever weaker as her husband regains his health. After she dies, she is rescued from Hades by either the hero Herakles (Hercules) or Queen Persephone depending on the tale's version, and restored to Ametus. Ametus cannot understand why she will not speak to him. The Greeks hold up Alcestis as a model loving, self-sacrificing spouse. Doesn't that automatically make Ametus a selfish, self-centered dog who would rather sacrifice his aged parents, his subjects or his wife rather than die himself as the Fates decreed? Who would want to go back to that? I certainly wouldn't!
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