The BookFetish Blog

Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient was a perfect mountain weekend read.

From the publisher’s summary:

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….

This one largely kept me guessing until the end. And because I was reading it purely for fun, I didn’t mind that parts of it were implausible. It’s the suspension of belief that sometimes makes a thriller all the more appealing.

Michaelides does disappoint me in one area. There was a minor character who I really liked, who I thought was the moral compass for the story, and it turns out I was wrong about that.

There’s nothing too deep in this one, but if you’re looking for a good, fun, beach/vacation read, this is a good one to put on your list.

I listened to The Tattooist of Auschwitz for my Girls Book Club, and frankly, with the growing rise in global anti-Semitism, I think a whole lot of people would benefit from reading this story.

From the Publisher’s Summary:

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov. While there has been some discussion about discrepancies of details (like Gita’s number) the overall story has been substantiated. The disputed details take nothing away from the story, however.

The narration was haunting. At times, I found myself dreading the next paragraph or chapter, because I could tell what was potentially coming, and it was heartbreaking. The ability for humans to be cruel to one another sometimes seems to know no boundaries.

At the same time, the resilience of the human spirit, the power of hope, comes through the story. As does our instinct for survival. The things we may do, the tradeoffs we may make, just to keep our lives.

This is a heavy read. You feel the despair and agony and fear of the imprisoned Jews. You feel the love between Lale and Gita and the hope for survival.

I found myself tearing up more than once while working through this book. And I found myself thinking about recent events. I don’t understand how you read a book about the Holocaust or know anything about the depravity and human suffering and can say that “there are good people on both sides” when you talk about Nazis today. Have we learned so little from history?

Everyone at book club loved this book. It has earned a spot on my ‘must-read’ list.

Ali Rizvi’s memoir, The Atheist Muslim, provides a first-hand look at the struggle of an Islamic being non-believer in a world where anti-Muslim sentiment still runs rampant.

From the publisher’s summary:

In much of the Muslim world, religion is the central foundation upon which family, community, morality, and identity are built. The inextricable embedment of religion in Muslim culture has forced a new generation of non-believing Muslims to face the heavy costs of abandoning their parents’ religion: disowned by their families, marginalized from their communities, imprisoned, or even sentenced to death by their governments.

Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually loses his faith. Discovering that he is not alone, he moves to North America and promises to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media—the Atheist Muslim.

In The Atheist Muslim, we follow Rizvi as he finds himself caught between two narrative voices he cannot relate to: extreme Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry in a post-9/11 world. The Atheist Muslim recounts the journey that allows Rizvi to criticize Islam—as one should be able to criticize any set of ideas—without demonizing his entire people. Emotionally and intellectually compelling, his personal story outlines the challenges of modern Islam and the factors that could help lead it toward a substantive, progressive reformation.

One of my book clubs recently read this book, and we were fortunate to have Rizvi Skype into our meeting. It was a treat to dialog with him, and he was very gracious in spending about an hour speaking with our group.

Overall, I liked the book. The deconversion story isn’t all that different from a Muslim perspective than a Christian perspective. However, in theocratic countries where apostasy is punishable by death, renouncing Islam has more extreme potential repercussions than many people walking away from their Christian faith.

Rizvi’s journey, however, will likely resonate with anyone who has turned away from the faith of their upbringing. The questions, the inability to reconcile a cruel god with a god of love, the question of evil, all will feel familiar to anyone who has questioned their faith and determined themselves a non-believer.

The tone of the book is conversational, and it is an easy, well-paced read. I listened to the audiobook, and it was well-narrated. The only part that I thought was a little tedious was the part on fetal development.

What the book made me think about is the courage of people in deeply religious communities who are true to themselves when they leave their faith. It’s a hard thing to do. Relationships can be severed. And in some countries, people can be killed for it. But for most people, I’d wager the peace they feel at being true to themselves makes them happier in the long run.

Are you one of the ones anxiously awaiting Game of Thrones tonight? I’m not, but I’m excited for all my friends who are. I’ve tried to get in to the show a few times, and just haven’t yet. I’m going to try again, as long as all my friends who are fans are satisfied with how it all ends. But, I do have my ticket for Avengers:Endgame! I’m looking forward to that.

I guess while pretty much everyone I know tunes into Game of Thrones tonight, I’ll keep making my way through the latest season of Sabrina.

The next week is going to be busy. I have a board meeting and book club and I’m seeing a production of Hamlet. And I get to see The Church in concert soon. So I’m trying to finish the book for book club (The Atheist Muslim) and then I have to jump right into The Tattooist of Auschwitz for my other book club. So you’ll get reviews of those soon.

I’m also setting up a couple of author interviews, and I’m excited to share those once they come together.

I did cook a bit this afternoon. No new recipes to share this week, but more are coming soon. I confess, though, that I attended a birthday party and an 80s party yesterday so I’ve been a bit lazy today.

It’s always good to be with friends, though, so I’m ok with being a little tired today.

What are you reading? Are you watching Game of Thrones? Until next week!

Earlier this year, I attended a conversation with Jodi Picoult and Emily Giffin as part of the book tour for A Spark of Light. Earlier that day, Brett Kavanaugh had been confirmed to the Supreme Court. A significant part of the conversation was about the accusations against Justice Kavanaugh, and the implications for Roe V Wade with Kavanaugh on the court. The air was heavy.

My book club discussed A Spark of Light Monday night, while our state legislature was debating one of the most restrictive anti-choice bills in the country. That bill passed by a single vote on Friday. It’s somehow fitting that these two events bookended my reading this book.

“The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.”

Publisher’s Summary, Amazon

I find Jodi Picoult’s books are nearly always able to spark (no pun intended) discussion. And this one is no different. From the way she tells this story -from end to beginning- to the subject matter, there’s a lot to talk about.

The ending to beginning approach was interesting. At times it was confusing. I had to stop and think about the sequence of events (and ladies in my book club agreed) but it was a different way of telling the story, of unraveling “how did we get to this point?”

As is typical of Picoult in any of her books involving controversy, she humanizes all the characters. I won’t say I felt empathy for the shooter, but Picoult did show him as a flawed, sad, angry man who was clearly hurting.

Picoult shows both sides of the abortion discussion in a mature way, bringing authentic viewpoints from both sides of the issue. No character is a caricature. The level of research Picoult did about the subject shows, too. For something so divisive, I think that’s incredibly important.

Add to that a couple of other twists (one I saw coming, and one I didn’t) and you have a fast-paced story that may challenge what you think about an important issue that touches more people than you realize.

I was afraid at the end that Picoult was going to leave us hanging about exactly who survives, but she doesn’t. I was very glad of that.

This is one I recommend.