This is a psychological thriller story tells us about Alicia Berenson, a famous painter who kills her own beloved husband Gabriel with five gunshots in his face in their house and remains silent after, and a psychotherapist Theo Faber who manages to treat Alicia in Grove, an psychiatric institution she is held in to make her speak again and reveal the truth.
The writer reveals the clues by each stages from Theo Faber's point of view, from his journey investigating people related to Alicia Berenson, and his own personal life as well. In other parts, readers are also given the story from Alicia Berenson's own point of view through the journal she wrote by herself. This way readers are made to know both Theo and Alicia's personality and life story little by little.
This book, in some points, engages readers to be sympathetic with what Alicia had been through her childhood life. It describes Alicia's psychological state both in the past and present time quite in detail and emotional way. Though she may not talk a single word, Theo Faber's invetigation to people from her circle reveals them gradually. This book is quite a page turner till the revealing twist in the last thirty pages.
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Personal story for personal note, might CONTAINTS SPOILERS, so please kindly stop reading if you are about to read this book later!!!
The twist is shocking, but as I have ever fooled by this kind of stories for so many times from Agatha Christie's novels, I don't really find this twist as amusing as how I felt when I first experienced 'totally screwed by the twist' state. However, I enjoyed more about how the writer describes Theo's feeling and frustration when he found out Kathy's infidelity. How he denied his own wish to cut off the relationship, he managed to still be with her despite her betrayal, for he was afraid to be alone again. This is so human, to stay in what so called toxic relationship, some people would rather have a dysfunctional partner than be lonely. Unfortunately, this decision brought Theo to so much cruelness he found himself do later...and he brought Alicia as well to suspect and do this messiness... I wonder if until the end of her life Alicia ever found out that his beloved husband Gabriel had an affair with Theo's wife. What we know from the book is just that Alicia was triggered to kill Gabriel when Gabriel mentioned to save himself rather than her, so she felt betrayed and unloved.
Well, admitted or not, (as some people choose not to admit or show it because showing vulnerability somehow hurt the ego) when it comes to feeling, people can do such stupid and irrational things.
