I have read Alex Michaelides books in completely the wrong order! But does it make a difference… well apart from me having to search through the other books for the references I’m not so sure. The Maidens was a book I’d wanted to read for a while and it saddened me that I nearly gave up on it. But more on what I thought later first, here’s the book and the Blurb.
The Maidens – Alex Michaelides
The Blurb
The highly anticipated second thriller from the record-breaking, international bestselling author of THE SILENT PATIENT.From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession…
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.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything – including her own life.
My Review of The Maidens
I don’t know whether I started reading this book just before Christmas when times were a little busy at home and I didn’t get much time to relax and read was the problem. But I found myself bored by the beginning of the story and ended up starting it over twice. This is very unusual for me as I have read Alex Michaelides before and really enjoyed his books. I so wanted to read this one too as I know he keeps the best until the end. It’s just getting there!
The order of his books are The Silent Patient, The Maidens and then The Fury. I’ve read them all, but I started with the Fury, then the Silent Patient and finally the The Maidens. The problem with this is that they all contain spoilers for the next book. I’m going to talk about these spoilers later, so if you don’t want to know I’ll give you fair warning to stop reading this post.
So, The Maidens… We start with group therapist, Mariana, sorting through her dead husband’s belongings. Then she hosts a therapy session which has strange consequences, and finally she receives a call from her niece which has her going back to Cambridge to try and solve a murder!
It all sounds fascinating, but in fact it was a little jumbled and complicated, or maybe it was just my lack of concentration.
There are so many suspects in this story, each one given a little part to play but play heavily on your mind. But Mariana is convinced the murder has something to do with Professor Edward Fosca. Some of Mariana’s actions are quite strange and this may be put down to grief, but it’s hard to understand why she is so trusting of all these men she’s never met before when there is a murderer on the loose?
The story continues and Mariana discovers a lot. But is any of it any use. I clicked on to a few things early on but I never suspected the actual murderer. I love that Michaelides has such crazy twists at the end of his stories.
The story isn’t really slow starting, it just feels like padding out, but there is so much hidden in-between the lines, you just have understand the style of writing.
Like any good dark thriller there is some gruesome scenes and they are entwined in Greek Tragedies which is what Alex Michaelides is most good at. I’m actually considering learning a bit more about them. (The Greek Tragedies, that is.)
I would suggest you do read the books in order but I found the spoilers more interesting finding them out in the wrong order…perhaps I’m just strange?
Ok My View on the Spoilers, stop reading now if you don’t want to know.
Seriously, don’t read on if you don’t want spoilers!
In The First Book…The Silent Patient. Is it right to consider spoilers are contained in someone’s first book or are they just notifications of other things to come?
Well, we find out about Theo and his relationship with Ruth his therapist. He also has a relationship with Mariana who appears in The Maidens, as does Ruth. The Greek mythology is something that runs through all the books. As does the theme of affairs and betrayal.
The Second Book. The Maidens.
We find out that it’s actually a meeting with the Main character, Mariana that Theo finds out about the job at The Grove where he goes to work next specifically because he wants to work with the Silent Patient. I don’t want to spoil too much but again, it’s the connection between Mariana, Theo and Ruth that runs throughout these books. Also, at the end of The Maidens, Mariana goes to visit Theo but first he has to visit with his patient which happens to be Alice Berenson. Then Mariana walks into another room but who does she see…that remains a mystery, but gets spoiled if you read the books out of order. We are led to believe she is going to see the actual murderer from the book who is now a patient, but it’s not until the end of the The Fury that we find out who she sees.
The Third Book – The Fury.
The Epilogue contains big spoilers for the other two books so it’s best to read them in order. I didn’t, so I didn’t feel it so much as a spoiler as a ‘ooh ah!’ moment.
The Fury is story which is edited by a character called Elliot. This is who Mariana goes to visit in The Maidens. She was his former therapist.
So basically, most of the characters can be connected by their past or their therapists in all books. If you haven’t read the The Silent Patient or the Maidens, would you really be spoiled to find out that Theo is treating Alicia Berenson? Or that Mariana was visiting Elliot? When I read the Fury first I didn’t know who these people were. When I finished The Maidens, I immediately went to the epilogue of The Fury to find out who she was visiting because I’d actually forgotten.
I actually like all the connections and I hope they continue. It makes the books more interesting. I’ll definitely read more of Alex Michaelides.