Mitalee P

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist and he is interested in Alice’s story who has murdered her husband. He is determined to get to the details behind the crime. Even though the patient (Alice) is silent throughout the narrative, the story progresses to spotlight her complex characteristics.

“Unexpressed emotions never die.
They are buried alive, and will come forth later, in uglier ways”

BEST Psychological Thriller I have read in a long time!
My opinion -
Very well researched topic and the quotes at the start of every part of the book make sense at the end.
Every scenario described feels so realistic and I was amazed how much engrossed I was in this book.
Nice pace and a very easy to understand and read kind of language used
The plot has a nice edginess and it wants you to keep turning pages to figure out what happens next!
I was amazed at the flawless development of the characters, outstanding buildup and curiosity maintained and in fact increasing as pages turned!
The final twist is the unique climax and no matter how much aware you are of the story, you’ll still not be able to predict it and I was mind blown by that sole fact
The chapters are well divided and the engrossing fast-paced read makes it a page turner for sure!
I enjoyed this wonderful psychological drama ride and cannot believe it is debut novel by Alex. Kudos!!

Conclusion -
It is definitely a clever and intriguing story with a mind-blowing twist to enjoy! The Silent Patient SPEAKS a lot -- It is for sure one of my favorite reads of 2019!

Storyline/Overview -
The Far Field is a heartbreaking beautiful page turner. The debut novel by Madhuri Vijay (Pushcart prize winner) is an amazing coming-of-age narrative of Shalini’s life. The plot takes her from southern India to Kashmir in the quest of truth and ultimately lands her to the edge of political and personal reckoning. The uniquely flawed characters bring out the best of the story.

My opinion -
I felt the story took a slow start and long buildup time but then sucked me in the frame later on. A little anger in me rose at times due to the foolishness and restlessness of the naive protagonist; oftentimes, I felt that the story was dragging the description of a scene for long (which could be a good thing for someone not acquainted with the Indian lifestyle/setting)
There are some scenes where hardcore opinions about the political turmoil of Kashmir politics have been expressed.
I was disappointed that the story switched between past and present intermittently.
At the end of the story, there is an illegitimate sexual scene described between two unmarried individuals.
Since, I am from India - the book was very special to me and I especially enjoyed and could relate to most of the scenarios described and they also made me nostalgic.
Even though being aware of Indian politics, this was an eye-opener to the conflict from local Kashmiri people point of view for me.
The book transported me to the world where I have come from.

Conclusion -
The biggest appeal for me was the fact that the story was engrossing, wonderfully written, had strong characters and a perfect mix of love-war-family drama. The book also gives an amazing critique of Indian politics for an outsider.

The meat in this book is all the characters and their portrayal as a part of a rural poor family set in the south. The writing is amazing and it gives a vivid picture of their lives. The story highlights a lot of complicated family dynamics and also looks at the issues of race and death from a different perspective.
The character-driven drama also has a nice twist and some ghosts from the past. The author refers to the ghosts the children are able to hear and see as birds on the tree, singing their song of grief, those who were killed or mistreated and left unburied, without justice!
Overall I really like the plot and how the story is told and the characters will be remembered for a long time.