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A Novel
by Alex Michaelides
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.
What is your book club reading in 2025?
...Naomi Hirahara - September 2024 THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS by Lisa Wingate - October 2024 THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN by Jim Defied - November 2024 THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides - December 2024 THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchet - January 2025 LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus - February 2025 YOU'LL NEVER KNOW DEAR by Hallie...
-Elizabeth
"Michaelides' stage-setting skills are as masterful here, as they were in The Silent Patient (2019); another tense, cleverly twisted winner." ―Booklist (starred review)
"Stunning... 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." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The Maidens is an intricately plotted, mystery-thriller for the discerning reader. It's an atmospheric story set on Cambridge University's campus merging cliff-hanging twists with artful suspense." ―The New York Journal of Books
"Elegant, sinister, stylish and thrilling, The Maidens answers the weighty question, how do you go about following one of the biggest thrillers of the past decade? You write something even better." ―Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End
"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
This information about The Maidens was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alex Michaelides was born and raised in Cyprus. He has an M.A. in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and an M.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patient was his first novel and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and is sold in a record-breaking 50 countries. His second novel, The Maidens, was an instant New York Times bestseller and garnered rave reviews from The Guardian, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, and more. After living in London for many years, Alex has recently moved back to his birthplace, Cyprus.
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