The Silent Patient

The novel begins with an epigraph (a motto or quotation prefacing the beginning of a piece of literature): “But why does she not speak?” The quote is from Alcestis, a Greek tragedy written by Euripedes. The play tells the story of King Admetus, who learns that he can live if he can find someone who is willing to die in his place. His wife, Alcestis, agrees to sacrifice herself. Heracles brings Alcestis back from the dead. She’s back to life but does not (or cannot) speak.

The Prologue is an excerpt from Alicia Berenson’s diary, dated July 14th—five weeks before Gabriel Berenson’s murder. Alicia has been feeling depressed. A painter, her emptions weight her down so much that she has been unable to create. Gabriel, a photographer who understands her creative struggles, encourages her to write and gives her a notebook to use as a diary. She writes that she loves Gabriel.

Alicia expresses embarrassment at the thought of keeping a “diary,” writing that people like Anne Frank “not someone like me” would keep a diary (1). She resolves, “This is going to be a joyful record of ideas and images that inspire me artistically, things that make a creative impact on me.