The Patient
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3.8 • 26 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
She is his doctor. He will be her downfall.
The bestselling phenomenon returns…
‘Beautifully paced’ CARA HUNTER
‘Beautifully written with an achingly real romance at its heart’ SARAH HILARY
‘A masterclass in upmarket thriller writing’ CHARLOTTE PHILBY
‘I raced through it!’ EMMA CURTIS
When Rachel, a GP in Salisbury, meets Luc, the attraction between them is instant. But Rachel is married with a daughter – and Luc isn’t well.
Despite themselves, a heady love affair begins – one that threatens to risk everything Rachel has worked for. And when someone in the town is found dead, the spotlight turns to Luc. Torn between her career, her marriage and her heart, Rachel finds herself in the middle of something much darker than she could have imagined…
A beautifully written domestic suspense story from the master of the what-if novel.
PRAISE FOR THE PATIENT:
‘This elegant, multi-layered story has taken my breath away. Much more than a murder mystery, it explores mental health, middle age, marriage and love, while luring you to the edge of your seat’ JANICE HALLETT
‘A powerful obsession turns dark in this gripping tale of desire, betrayal and murder’ T.M. LOGAN
‘Constantly surprising’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘With plenty of tension and shocking moments, this atmospheric story is perfect for fans of Apple Tree Yard and Doctor Foster’ CANDIS MAGAZINE
'A breath-taking dissection of a marriage' Woman & Home
‘A compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending’ Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal
‘We absolutely loved this . . . It's difficult to believe that this accomplished book is a debut’ Richard & Judy Book Club
‘Utterly gripping. A tautly-coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending’ Mail on Sunday
‘Gave me goosebumps’ Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes
‘Jane Shemilt has a talent for taking you into her world – but be careful. It might not be what you think…’ Jane Corry, Sunday Times bestselling author of I Made A Mistake
‘Beautifully written and suffused with dread. A compelling literary thriller’ Gilly Macmillan, bestselling author of The Nanny
About the author
While working as a GP, Jane Shemilt completed a postgraduate diploma in Creative Writing at Bristol University and went on to study for the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, gaining both with distinction. Her first novel, Daughter, was selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club, shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 2014. In 2020 she moved across to HarperFiction and The Patient is her first novel with HarperCollins.
She and her husband, a professor of neurosurgery, have five children and live in Bristol.
Her books have sold over 700,000 copies worldwide, and she has been published in 23 territories.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the "privileged little town" of Salisbury, England, this intriguing if flawed psychological thriller from Shemilt (The Daughter) opens with Rachel Goodchild, a 49-year-old physician who works at a health center, in a custody cell. In telling the story of how she got there, Rachel admits she and her schoolteacher husband ceased having sex long ago and her 24-year-old daughter holds her in disdain. Earlier, handsome French architect Luc Lefevre had come to the center for a consultation concerning his mild depression, and her attraction to him is sudden and intense. She subsequently meets him at a party organized by his beautiful American wife. It becomes clear that Rachel's interest in Luc is reciprocated, and the two embark on an affair. With all the players in place, the plot simmers to a rolling boil. Rachel is sure she's being stalked, and people associated with her are gruesomely murdered. Whom can she trust in a world with so many liars? Rachel comes to realize she's misread the clues as one version of the truth after another unfolds en route to the anticlimactic ending. Hopefully, Shemilt will stick the landing next time.
Customer Reviews
An intriguing read!
I’m slightly on the fence with this book, it interested me enough to finish reading it, but it didn’t quite grab me enough to want to pick the book up every chance I got. It was a bit of a slow burner and I did find myself wondering where it was going at times, but I did like the ending as there were a few unexpected twists and turns. So many of the characters are unreliable, which made it hard to know who to trust and helped keep me guessing throughout.
Rachel lives a pretty average life, the spark in her marriage has been gone for some time and her grown-up daughter always seems annoyed at her. Then one evening she goes to drop something at the surgery she works at as a GP and she meets a patient called Luc, he seems troubled, so she helps him with an emergency prescription. They talk for a while and Rachel feels an immediate connection, knowing it is wrong to think that way about a patient she thinks it is just as well she won’t see him again. That is until she does….
Love affairs, stalking, murders and more. This story certainly has everything a good thriller should have, but something is missing for me and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I think some of it seemed a bit far-fetched and unlikely and I didn’t warm to some of the characters, but the descriptive writing was brilliant, and I could really imagine everything, especially the parts set in France. There is also a part where Rachel is unwell and another character is having a breakdown, these bits were portrayed incredibly well, and I really felt like I was inside the character’s heads at that time.
I think the blurb for this book makes you think the story is going to go a certain way when it doesn’t, so I like that it wasn’t what I expected at all. Whilst it wasn’t quite the compulsive read, I was hoping for, I did enjoy it and I am glad I read to the end. I’d like to read more from this author to see if her writing style is similar to her other books.
Absolutely stunning..
I absolutely loved this book. I have also loved all of Jane’s other work too but this book really was a beautiful journey through colours and relationships and emotion and life. I felt as though I were there watching the story unfold. Jane’s writing is mesmerisingly great.