The Maidens contains some of the key elements that continue to draw readers to The Silent Patient — Greek mythology, therapy, and a psychologist at the center of a murder mystery. What drew you back to these themes while writing The Maidens?

When I first decided to write The Silent Patient, I thought the smart thing to do would be to set the novel in a world I knew well. I knew I needed a detective, but I didn’t know anything about detectives. So I thought how well I know psychotherapists and psychiatric units, and decided to make my detective into a psychotherapist. Likewise, in The Maidens, Mariana is a group therapist, as I know a fair bit about group therapy.
the maidens book
How did your writing process change with your second book?

The actual writing of the book during lockdown gave me a way to escape from my apartment — in my mind, at least. Every day, I was able to journey to Cambridge in my head, and try to live there. And in a way, lockdown was good for me creatively; it enabled me to focus. There’s nothing like being locked up in your apartment to concentrate your mind.