As a fan of the dark academia aesthetic, I was very eager to get my hands on a copy of The Maidens when it came out. I mean, have you seen this cover? Gorgeous! Also, I’d heard great things about this author’s previous novel, The Silent Patient.
This particular story takes place in Cambridge, where a group therapist called Mariana tries to find the person responsible for the death of her niece’s friend. She soon becomes obsessed with Edward Fosca, an admired and renowned professor. Even if he is able to provide an alibi for the night of the murder, she suspects him of being the killer. While I found this synopsis very intriguing, I was incredibly unimpressed by the actual story. Here’s why.
First, the main character, Mariana, was not very likable. It was very hard for me to understand her motivations. Why would a group therapist feel like she has the ability and authority to investigate a murder? (No offence if you’re a group therapist, but I’m pretty sure some sort of professional training in law enforcement would be necessary.) Also, her psychological analyses of the “killer” always felt out of place. I wish they would have been integrated to the narration better because they often just interrupted the writing flow.
While I loved the mystery aspect of the novel and was curious to find out who was killing all of these people, I kept getting distracted by the writing style. It was far from awful, but I had the impression that the text could have undergone more revision. There was a serious lack of concision and variation. For example, in the span of two pages, the name “Zoe” (Mariana’s niece) was repeated more than 15 times! I know that repetitions aren’t as frowned upon in English as they are in French (my mother language), but it still annoyed me so much. I couldn’t pay attention to the story because my mind kept focussing on the repetitions. Why not use “she” or other pronouns from time to time? In his acknowledgments, the author explains that most of this book was written during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that it was written and revised pretty quickly, since it was published in June 2021. That may explain why the revision seemed insufficient.
Last but not least, the ending was just too unrealistic for my taste. I loved the mysterious atmosphere of the novel, its setting and the integration of mythology but, unfortunately, the ending did not impress me at all. I understand the need for shock value at the end of a mystery novel like this one, but I just couldn’t believe what I was reading. I wish I could say that I recommend The Maidens because I was so excited to read it, but there are better mystery novels out there.
The Librocubicularista 