Coupled with my love of thrillers, especially Agatha Christie, everything came together in the form of The Silent Patient.' Working part-time at a secure psychiatric unit for two years, I saw how the world of psychotherapy might be the perfect modern setting to re-imagine this story and explore its themes of death, guilt and silence. 'This image of a silent woman haunted me for years, until I did a post-graduate course in psychotherapy in London. 'During my English degree, I became obsessed with the Ancient Greek myth of Alcestis and the haunting, cryptic tragedy by Euripides, where a woman is brought back to life and refuses to speak,' said Michaelides. Michaelides, who has been a screenwriter on “The Devil You Know”, as well as other films, said his idea for the novel grew from experience working at a psychiatric unit, as well as an interest in the Greek legend of Alcestis and a love of Agatha Christie thrillers. The thiller is slated for a hardback release in spring 2019. It was the subject of a 'major' pre-empt in the US by Ryan Doherty at Celadon Books (the newest division of Macmillan Publishers), within just 12 hours of submission, as well a mixture of pre-empts and auctions in Brazil, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Spain.įilm rights to the work have also sold to an Oscar-winning producer, yet to be revealed. UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to the debut were secured by Ben Willis, senior commissioning editor at Orion Fiction, from Sam Copeland at RCW in a 'hotly contested' auction.Ĭopeland called it 'one of the biggest debut deals we've seen in the last five years', with the novel also attracting significant international interest. Theo Faber, a determined psychotherapist, is convinced he can get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she did it. Set in London, The Silent Patient opens with Alicia Berenson, a successful painter, who shoots the husband she loves in the head five times, and then never speaks again. Orion has splashed six figures on British screenwriter Alex Michaelides' first thriller, in one of the biggest debut deals agency Rogers, Coleridge & White has cut in the last five years.

Alcestis the silent patient