Zoe's phone call after the Monday Evening Group was how it all started. That is how the nightmare began. Zoe was her niece and Mariana is a group therapist. The first instance is when he is 12, after his “dream” about killing his mother (which I think was not a dream at all, but it’s something that actually happened that he is unable to face). The second instance is right before he writes the letter (which I’m guessing is when killed Mariana’s father). Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. He was a bit like a king, Mariana thought—or a dictator. She was later to discover he was an extremely wealthy man—not that you would have guessed it from the austere, Spartan way they lived. Perhaps her mother—her gentle, delicate English mother—might have softened him, had she lived. But she died tragically young, soon after Mariana was born. no objections at all, because on this campus, *shrug*, that's just how students learn. when mariana was matriculating, she developed a relationship with her (female) advisor that continues to the present-day, but began with the same kind of boundary-blurring:

It was unseasonably warm that Monday evening. Even though it was early October, the Indian summer prevailed, like an obstinate party guest, refusing to heed the hints from the dying leaves on the trees that it might be time to go. The late-afternoon sun flooded into the front room, drenching it with a golden light, tinged with red. Before the session, Mariana drew the blinds, but left the sash windows open a few inches to let in some air. The Maidens also makes effective and substantive use of the mythological aspects of the story, so mystery-thriller fans who also love the classics should definitely take note. It adds layer of meaning that you don’t see too often in mystery-thrillers. Mariana mentions that she saw Sebastian as being similar to her father, and Ruth warns Mariana that she has a blind spot for how she sees her father. Ruth also suggests that Mariana’s relationship with her father is central to the investigation somehow. (That said, saying that he’s similar to her father really isn’t that much of a clue since her father was emotionally distant, not a bloodthirsty psychopath.) i could do this all day—i haven't even touched upon the postcards, or the on-the-nose focus on revenge tragedies, but i've already gone on so long here that i'm running out of review-space, despite cutting out so many tirade-tangents i don't even know if what's left of the review makes sense anymore, and i've spent so much time rereading chunks of the book to make sure i'm not missing anything that makes the book make sense, and i'm just getting hot and cranky and i want this to be over.

Discussion Questions

Too much unnecessary misdirection about the identity of the murder even though it’s so obvious from the beginning Mariana successfully inserts herself into the investigation, putting herself on a collision course with the undeniably charming, Professor Fosca.

where i lost my mind was when mariana is led to the location of the murder weapon by a non-police person, and it doesn't even occur to her to object when they remove it from its hidey-hole. i know she's not a professional with a responsibility to preserve evidence, but oh we just allow people to grab murder weapons now, do we? mariana? COME ON, MARIANA!That’s why she couldn’t throw away his possessions—by holding on to them, she could keep Sebastian alive, somehow, just a little bit—if she let go, she’d lose him entirely. The one-paragraph version: Mariana is a young widow whose husband Sebastian died in a swimming accident last year. She goes to visit her niece Zoe at Cambridge after Zoe's friend Tara is found murdered. Zoe suspects Edward Fosca, a handsome and popular professor who Tara had been sleeping with. Mariana gets drawn into investigating Fosca as well as the Maidens, a cult-like group of women who idolize Fosca. Tara had been one of the Maidens and soon two more of the women are found dead. In the end, it's revealed that Zoe is the killer. Zoe had been lovers with Sebastian, who married Mariana for money. After his accident, Zoe decided to continue with his plan of murdering Mariana (to get her fortune). The plan was to involve Mariana in an investigation into a series of murders (all committed by Zoe), frame Fosca and finally kill Mariana. However, Mariana manages to fight Zoe off, and Zoe ends up arrested and taken to a psychiatric facility.

It was a good-sized room. It had been given over to the use of therapy soon after Mariana and Sebastian moved into the yellow house. Michaelides has proven that he is no one-hit wonder and is well on his way to becoming one of the world’s most influential and well-read thriller writers." I've decided to round my rating up a star, if for no reason other than I cannot stop thinking about this book and it got me out of a major reading slump. I wasn't as dazzled by The Silent Patient as most readers, yet as a debut it was undeniably entertaining and well crafted. The author has completely changed courses with his sophomore novel, The Maidens, and traded the world of flashy psychological thrillers for a literary murder mystery. Make no mistake, although this book has a quiet power, its short chapters and oppressive atmosphere are gripping. Academia and crime fiction go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so I think Michaelides has found a sweet spot in this particular sub-genre of suspense.

She wanted to hide from the world, all its noise and pain, and cocoon herself here, in her work, and in her little yellow house. Mariana grew up with a keen awareness of [her mother's] loss. As a therapist, she knew a baby's first sense of self comes through its parents' gaze. We are born being watched—our parents' expressions, what we see reflected in the mirror of their eyes, determines how we see ourselves. Mariana had lost her mother's gaze—and her father, well, he found it hard to look at her directly. Edward Fosca is a charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University. All the staff and students love him, especially a group of female students called The Maidens. When Mariana receives Zoe's phone call she finds out that one of the maidens, who is Zoe's friend, was murdered in Cambridge. Mariana is determined to stop the murderer even if it costs her everything including her own life.

Mariana was still in love with him—that was the problem. Even though she knew she’d never see Sebastian again—even though he was gone for good—she was still in love and didn’t know what to do with all this love of hers. There was so much of it, and it was so messy: leaking, spilling, tumbling out of her, like stuffing falling out of an old rag doll that was coming apart at the seams. There was no way I could guess who the murderer was because every man seems to have something that might point to him. Everyone speaks in circles and there is a sense of foreboding, as if more is going to happen (and it does). I suspect that there will be more of this world, where The Silent Patient and The Maidens intersect in a third book and I look forward to reading that story. Fate and Nature were also given character roles in this story. Fred's uncanny premonitions, the staring swan, Mariana's repeated supplications to the implacable Demeter, and the sudden storm that erased Sebastian from her life - it was as if man and Nature were in battle with one another, and for once, although Mariana would not have believed it, the Gods were on her side.I want to thank the publisher, Macmillan for the ARC of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides in exchange for an honest review. Overall: I’m rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 not so satisfied, it could be so much better, but there’s still interesting and intriguing premise of the story made me finish it stars!