If you’re a fan of The Sinner, this debut novel by screenwriter Alex Michaelides is the perfect book for you. Alicia Berenson shot her husband five times, and hasn’t spoken a word since. Not at her trial, not when she was found guilty, not when she was sentenced and sent to a secure psychiatric facility. She never explained why she did it. What drove her to murder her husband, and bring their seemingly perfect marriage to such a bloody, brutal end.
Theo Faber has been following her case closely. A psychologist, he overcame his troubled childhood through therapy, and he wonders if he might have the patience and skill to draw her out of her shell. When a job opening comes up at her facility, The Grove, Theo applies and begins to work, specifically asking to take on Alicia’s case even as the manager of the facility believes it to be hopeless.
The narrative in the book is split between Theo’s perspective in the present day, and Alicia’s perspective in the weeks leading up to the murder through her diary. We are able to contrast what Theo is told about her life with the accounts Alicia gives, and realise that things aren’t quite matching up. As the lies people tell Theo begin to unravel, Alicia’s diary becomes more frantic and paranoid. Is she imagining things, as her husband suggests, or is she justified in her fears?
The use of a psychologist’s perspective was really interesting, as it examined the causes behind the murder, in the same way as The Sinner. Would the reasoning behind it, the state of Alicia’s mind, justify her actions? Equally, however, the fact that Theo is her psychologist makes for a wonderfully uncomfortable blending of worlds, as we become aware that he is trying to divert his attention from his own failing marriage to Alicia’s case. Is he overstepping boundaries because he’s trying to avoid his own personal issues? Where do you draw the line between therapeutic interest and obsession?
This is a fantastic novel, with a chilling sense of unease, right up to the final, shocking, revelations. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Claire Ormsby-Potter lives in the Midlands with her very patient husband and very neurotic cat. She's an early career editor, who wants to spend all her professional and leisure time with books, and particularly loves genre fiction. At some point she may have to stop buying books for the sake of space and money, but today is not that day.
