Weidenfeld & Nicolson Archives

Book review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

June 19, 20212 min read

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides was released in 2019 and I very much enjoyed the British-Cypriot’s debut novel. In my review I talk about Michaelides’s background in psychology which allowed him to offer readers insight into therapeutic relationships. I also commented that I was very surprised by a twist at the end and – it has to be said – the same things are true of his new novel, The Maidens.

There’s less of a focus on psychotherapy here – though our lead character is a group counsellor – but it’s still very much a psychological thriller and I really did not pick whodunnit as Michaelides crafts a brilliantly complex web of intricate threads that could take us any number of places.

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Book review: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

September 8, 20173 min read

I know it will sound weird that a book about missing children seemed like a comfort read, but that’s very much what I was hoping for as I opened this book after a long weekend away.

I’d not done any reading for days, was tired from a long drive and was feeling a bit stressed about a few things.

Rene Denfeld’s The Child Finder was actually not next in my ~~anally~~ chronologically sorted to-be-read pile, but it was shorter than its nearest competitor and seemed like the kind of book that is my usual reading bread and butter.

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Book review: Don’t Let Go by Michel Bussi

May 15, 20173 min read

I didn’t realise until I picked this book up that it was a translation. I had some bad experiences with translated books a few years ago and have pretty much stayed away ever since – which I know is very close-minded and English-centric of me. I can’t help but wonder how it works as well… so much of someone’s writing is caught up in the way they turn a phrase, which makes a translated book very VERY dependent on its translator. It’s almost as if they could make, or break, a book.

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Book review: The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink

November 30, 20163 min read

German author (lawyer and former judge) Bernhard Schlink is probably best known for his book, The Reader, which was made into the popular film starring Kate Winslet and the v.sexy Ralph Fiennes.

It’s a book I’ve not read (nor have I seen the film) but it’s on my ‘must read some day’ list, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest release, The Woman on the Stairs.

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