The Maidens

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Mariana discusses how Sebastian is not close to his parents, that they’re divorced and that “he felt they hadn’t given him a good start in life” (it’s discussed in a financial sense of them being poor, but perhaps he meant that in other ways as well).

That’s how it felt. Since Sebastian died, Mariana no longer saw the world in color. Life was muted and gray and far away, behind a veil—behind a mist of sadness. instead setting up businesses to help transport muchneeded goods—food and other essentials—to vulnerable I can see you have cast me as the villain—a predator preying on my vulnerable students. Except now you're met these young ladies, you can see there's nothing vulnerable about them. Nothing untoward happens at these meetings—it's just a small study group, discussing poetry, enjoying wine and intellectual debate."Those troubling aspects aside, from a fundamental development level, the plot never felt fully fleshed out and the characters felt like caricatures. The characters were monstrously overworked yet somehow super forgettable. I had trouble remembering each male character and often forget about them until Mariana ran into them and they gave her creepy serial killer vibes all over again. Seemingly every man introduced seemed to scream I AM A CREEP, SUSPECT ME. They all make her uncomfortable, they're all trying too hard to be close to her, several actually STALK her (which we never discuss???), and yet somehow we're to believe Mariana has got this all handled and has no concerns over all the suspicious men circling her. Honestly, the ploy to make them all red herrings was so obvious it was cringey. Zoe never really felt like her own character, rather it felt like her purpose was just to be a convenient person for Mariana to walk around campus with and sometimes talk to instead of trying to 'solve' the crime through her own rambling internal monologues. the only thing that really bothered me about this book, though, are the interactions between the MC and men. honestly, there are four separate male characters who throw themselves at her. but of course, she ‘doesnt know how beautiful she is (this is mentioned more than once - major eye roll),’ so she declines their advances and they either A) get very angry and offended by it, or B) they wont take no for an answer and consistently pester her. not to mention all of these interactions could be removed from the book with no consequence - i have no idea what purpose they serve. one time i could overlook, but multiple occurrences is just very poor characterisation and bad writing. 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.

In The Maidens, 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. In "The Silent Patient", artist Alicia Berenson stopped speaking after shooting her husband in the face 5 times. Her only explanation, a self portrait, titled Alcestis-after the tragic heroine of the Greek Tragedy, by Euripides. He was a bit like a king, Mariana thought—or a dictator. She was later to discover he was an extremely wealthy man—not that you would have guessed it from the austere, Spartan way they lived. Perhaps her mother—her gentle, delicate English mother—might have softened him, had she lived. But she died tragically young, soon after Mariana was born.

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Accompanying the housekeeper on shopping trips to the crowded and frenetic market in the center of Athens always made Mariana nervous. And she was relieved, and a little surprised, to return home unscathed. Large groups continued to intimidate her as she grew older. At school, she found herself on the sidelines, feeling as if she din't fit in with her classmates. And this feeling of not fitting in was hard to shake. Years later, in therapy, she came to understand that the schoolyard was simply a macrocosm of the family unit: meaning her uneasiness was less about the here and now—less about the schoolyard itself, or the market in Athens, or any other group in which she might find herself—and more to do with the family in which she grew up, and the lonely house she grew up in. I want to thank the publisher, Macmillan for the ARC of The Maidens by Alex Michaelides in exchange for an honest review. When Fosca notices Mariana's interest in him, he invites her to dinner. There, he tells Mariana about how the pinecone was a symbol given to each initiate into the cult of Eleusis and about his unhappy childhood on a farm. Mariana also sees his copy of Euripides complete works with on of the quotations on the postcards underlined, making her certain he is the murderer. putting that aside, this book truly does deserve the hype its getting. with intriguing ritualistic murders to engaging literary influences, this is a great sophomore novel for AM. mariana may understand that sometimes teachers and students drink together in private rooms and that's a totally normal part of the education process, but she trusts zoe's instincts about fosca's guilt, and he's certainly not acting unshady.

In Part II, Mariana learns more about Fosca and a group of his favorite students -- all well-connected and intelligent women -- who are part of his private study group. The women are referred to as the Maidens, a reference to Persephone, the goddess of death. In Greek, Persephone is referred to " Kore" which means " maiden". Tara had been one of them.There was no way I could guess who the murderer was because every man seems to have something that might point to him. Everyone speaks in circles and there is a sense of foreboding, as if more is going to happen (and it does). I suspect that there will be more of this world, where The Silent Patient and The Maidens intersect in a third book and I look forward to reading that story.

I wish I was one of the admirers of this book but I missed the author’s claustrophobic, intense, brilliant mind games, psychological, distorted, smart twists and gripping writing style he performed at Silent Patient! The Maidens are Cambridge University’s most exclusive society, whose members are selected by the charismatic professor of Greek tragedy, Edward Fosca.

Movie / TV Show Adaptation

red and yellow. His brown eyes, partly disguised by his oldfashioned steel-rimmed glasses, brimmed with intelligence Mariana decides to console her niece, spending more time at the place by conducting her own investigation. Her number one suspect is professor Edward Fonseca who might be the lover of the victim and he’s also finder of mysterious Maidens group. Tara was also the member of this group and unfortunately she was not the only one brutally killed! Somebody is after the maidens and he/ she is adamant to finish what he/she started! and ____ (proper noun) didn't recognize ANYTHING from ____'s (proper noun) life in that ___ (noun)? presumably, before ____ (proper noun) went all ______ (disparaging slang), they'd ______ (verb, past tense) about their _____ (noun, plural)?? no? Wow: I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook version of The Maidens, read by Louise Brealey and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Brealey's dramatic reading tone injected a mesmerizing sense of dread and suspense into the narrative, and Holdbrook-Smith's husky tone did an excellent job of creeping me out!