The Maidens

The ultimate thriller by the author of The Silent Patient, winner of the Goodreads Readers' Choice Award, with over two and a half million copies sold and translated into fifty languages.

ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST

«The new Joël Dicker, [...] the new miracle of European literature.»
Elle

«The Maidens is a top-notch addictive book.»
David Baldacci

At thirty-six, Mariana tries to recover from the loss of Sebastian, the great love of her life, who drowned during a vacation on a Greek island. She works in London as a therapist, but when her niece Zoe, her only remaining family, calls her from Cambridge to tell her that Tara, her best friend, has been brutally murdered near the student residence, she decides to go to her aid.

There she meets Fosca, a charismatic professor of Classical Philology. The professor runs a study group with a very select number of female students, all beautiful and from elite families, of which Tara was a part: the Maidens. In the young woman's bedroom, Mariana finds a postcard with verses in classical Greek that demand a sacrifice. Soon, the bodies of other Maidens will appear on campus with their eyes gouged out and a pine cone in their hand, and Mariana will not only have to face the resolution of these crimes, but also the ghosts of her own past.

Critics have said:
«Fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will fall in love with The Maidens, from the dazzling author of The Silent Patient [...]. With dreamlike references to Greek mythology and ancient ritualistic murders, this intelligent and addictive book establishes Michaelides as an unstoppable force in the thriller universe.»
Esquire

«We were waiting for it and it's here: the plot is tempting and the ingredients, irresistible.»
The New York Times

«A captivating read that conveys Hellenic emotion with great elegance.»
Sunday Telegraph

«It has everything to become a series. [...] Michaelides' narrative, especially his way of creating characters, possesses a unique brilliance, a more encouraging promise than that of other writers.»
Daily Mail

«Michaelides is forever established as a superior author, a masterful and slow-cooked blend of Greek mythology with a very sharp plot. [...] Destined to be a bestseller.»
Newsweek

«A cocktail of Greek mythology and suspense. This exciting and twisted story is the best way to start your summer reading list. A blockbuster.»
Book Riot

«Michaelides' ability to create scenes is as masterful here as in The Silent Patient. He has captivated us again with a tense, intelligent, and twisted novel.»
Booklist

«Stunning. [...] This intelligent and rational plot has parallels with Euripides' tragedies, with Jacobean dramas like The Duchess of Malfi or with Tennyson's poetry. The ending is completely devastating. Michaelides is on a roll.»
Publishers Weekly

«A thrilling journey that will leave your heart pounding.»
Stephen Fry

«A deliciously dark, elegant, and compulsive read, with a twist that blew me away. I dare say I liked it more than The Silent Patient, and that's saying something!»
Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author