The Book:
The Patient by Jane Shemilt
Published May 3, 2022 by William Morrow & Company
Date read: December 6, 2022
The Characters:
Rachel
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Rachel is a respected doctor who lives in a picturesque and affluent English village where her husband Nathan teaches at an elite private school. Competent, unflappable, and nearing 50, Rachel has everything in her life firmly in her control, even if some of its early luster has worn off. But one day a new patient arrives at her practice for emergency treatment. Luc is a French painter married to a wealthy American woman who’s just bought and restored a historic home on the edge of Rachel’s posh neighborhood. The couple has only recently arrived, but Luc is struggling with a mental disorder, and so he goes to the nearest clinic…to Rachel.
Their attraction is instant, and as Rachel’s sense of ethics wars with newly awakened passion, the affair blinds her to everything else happening around her. A longtime patient appears to be following her every movement, turning up unexpectedly wherever she goes. Her somewhat estranged adult daughter Lizzie is hiding a secret—or at least, hiding it from Rachel. Nathan has grown sour and cold as well—or is that merely Rachel’s guilty conscience weighing on her? But when one of her colleagues winds up murdered and Luc is arrested for the crime, everything Rachel didn’t know about her life explodes into the open—along with her affair with her patient—a disgrace and scandal that will have consequences no one could have predicted.
The Reveal:
The “very sentimental” painting that Luc gave Rachel for safekeeping was actually a Van Gogh.
Blake was the murderer, and he framed Luc because it was convenient. Blake and Ophelia were working together, trying to steal Luc’s Van Gogh. Blake seduced Rachel’s daughter Lizzie, and Blake, Lizzie, and Ophelia ran away to the US together.
Nathan and Ophelia had also been having an affair. Ophelia was also using him to try to get her hands on the painting. Nathan also went to meet them in the US, thinking he had the painting. Rachel had returned it to Luc in the mental hospital.
The Ending:
Victoria took Rachel on vacation to France, where she ran into Luc again. They ended up together and Rachel and Lizzie repaired their relationship. I have as many questions as you do.
The Review:
Unfortunately, this book was definitely not my favorite. I would have DNF’d, but I was driving and didn’t have anything else downloaded. It never ended up being worth my time. It’s not really a thriller, just a bored wife drama with a little mystery.
Rachel was your typical petty, annoying, cheating-just-because-I’m-bored wife. No wonder her daughter wanted nothing to do with her.
For the most part, the reveal was predictable–certainly the whodunit if not the motive. The ending felt extremely unresolved and didn’t answer any of the questions I had about the reveal I liked the art angle and that’s about it.
If you’ve started but don’t want to finish, check out my spoilers!
