The Maidens

My Book of the Month selection for June was The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (the other options were Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie, Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian, and Mailbu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid). I haven't read The Silent Patient, the acclaimed debut novel by Michaelides, but I was, nevertheless, very eager to read this selection because I love atmospheric psychological thrillers and I was intrigued by the allusions to Greek mythology. Unfortunately, I was incredibly disappointed. Mariana is a psychotherapist with a small practice living in London. She is still reeling from the death of her husband Sebastian who drowned while the two of them were vacationing on the island of Naxos over a year ago. She receives a troubling call from her niece Zoe, a student at Cambridge University, with the news that her friend Tara has been brutally murdered. Because Zoe is so distraught, she travels to Cambridge to comfort her and becomes involved in the investigation when someone whom she believes is innocent is arrested. She suspects Edward Fosca, a charismatic professor of Greek tragedy, when she learns that Tara belonged to a select group of students under his tutelage, known as the Maidens, who worship the Greek goddesses Demeter and Persephone and perform rituals involving death and rebirth. She becomes obsessed with proving Fosca's guilt but there are plenty of suspects when her own life is threatened. I found Mariana to be a really frustrating protagonist because she makes such bad decisions, especially considering the fact that she is a therapist, and her insertion into the murder mystery is incredibly contrived. All of the other characters, especially the eventual murderer, are very thinly developed and their motivations are unclear which makes the big plot twist seem to come from nowhere. The aforementioned allusions to Greek mythology, as well as the allusions to The Duchess of Malfi and the poetry of Tennyson, are interesting but prove to be nothing more than bits of misdirection once the mystery is solved. A major theme of the novel is the effect that childhood trauma can have on future criminal behavior but it is not explored in any meaningful way because there is no resolution for the specific character involved which I found very exasperating. It is atmospheric and foreboding but, with all of the hype surrounding this novel, I expected so much more.

Note:  I wish I had selected Half Sick of Shadows instead (it was my second choice).