The Maidens
A Novel
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3.9 • 2.5K Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
"Alex Michaelides’s long-awaited next novel, 'The Maidens,' is finally here...the premise is enticing and the elements irresistible."
—The New York Times
"A deliciously dark, elegant, utterly compulsive read—with a twist that blew my mind. I loved this even more than I loved The Silent Patient and that's saying something!"
—Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly).
Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The ivy-covered buildings of a revered university become a den of mind games and death in this sinister mystery by Alex Michaelides, author of the smash hit The Silent Patient. After her niece’s best friend is horrifically murdered, therapist Mariana Andros rushes to Cambridge University to be by her side. The police investigating the crime seem unconcerned by the strange hold that charismatic professor Edward Fosca has over an all-female secret society called the Maidens—so Mariana vows to discover the truth herself. Michaelides’ lush descriptions of the storied college add great atmosphere to the creepy plot, which weaves in elements of Greek mythology and classic poetry. The widowed Mariana is the perfect main character for a suspenseful story that explores themes of love, loss, and the underworld inside all of us. We couldn’t rest until we knew what was really going on with the Maidens—and who wanted them dead.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
London psychotherapist Mariana Andros, the protagonist of this stunning psychological thriller from Michaelides (The Silent Patient), suspends her patients' group therapy to rush to Cambridge University to comfort her niece, Zoe, whose best friend, Tara Hampton, has been murdered. Mariana soon focuses on the charming, handsome Edward Fosca, a Greek tragedy professor who has assembled a secret society of female students known as the Maidens that included Tara. Mariana's obsession to prove Edward guilty of murder is tinged with her all-consuming grief over the death of her husband, Sebastian, a year before, and her protectiveness of Zoe, whom she raised after the young woman's parents died. Her investigation intensifies when two more of the Maidens are murdered, but the police and Zoe dismiss her theories. The intelligent, cerebral plot finds contemporary parallels in Euripides's tragedies, Jacobean dramas such as The Duchess of Malfi, and Tennyson's poetry. The devastating ending shows just how little the troubled Mariana knows about the human psyche or herself. Michaelides is on a roll.
Customer Reviews
The Maidens is a Greek tragedy in a modern English context.
This story is a psychological mystery and a thriller that offers few clues throughout, but those that are included are intriguing. Even the armchair detective may be in for a surprise at the end. The characters are complex and their relationships are certainly worth exploring. There are no super heroes here; thinking is what matters in The Maidens.
Lead on mystery
I didn't like the how the killler turned out to be…It seemed rushed, but the idea is novel.
Ok but like second album slump
This story is not as compelling as his first novel, The Silent Patient. It is seriously contrived and perhaps worse still, implausible and pretentious.