Celadon Books is pleased to announce the acquisition of THE SILENT PATIENT, a debut thriller by screenwriter Alex Michaelides in a two-book deal. Within hours of receiving the manuscript, Executive Editor Ryan Doherty made a pre-emptive offer for exclusive North American publishing rights to agent Sam Copeland at Rogers, Coleridge & White, ending the bidding process for this gripping novel before it could even begin.
THE SILENT PATIENT tells the story of Alicia Berenson, a famous painter, who shoots the husband she loves five times in the face and never speaks again. Now, she’s tucked away in a secure unit north of London, the price of her art has skyrocketed, and her notoriety has only increased. Enter Theo Faber, a psychotherapist convinced he can get her to talk and unravel the mystery of what happened.
“We couldn’t be more excited to launch a major new thriller voice,” says Ryan. “The entire Celadon team devoured THE SILENT PATIENT, and we instantly knew we had to publish this book. Alex Michaelides has written an expertly plotted contemporary thriller, filled with twists that are utterly shocking and characters that defy expectation at every turn. We can’t wait to introduce THE SILENT PATIENT on our inaugural list.”
This is Alex Michaelides’s first novel. Alex was born in Cyprus to a Greek father and English mother. He studied English literature at Cambridge University and got his MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013), starring Rosamund Pike, and co-wrote The Brits are Coming (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey, and Sofia Vergara. His second novel will be published by Celadon in 2020.
THE SILENT PATIENT will be Celadon’s first published title, coming February 2019. Film rights have been optioned by Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment.