The Model Patient

A psychological tour-de-force about obsession, control, and the dangerous relationship between a therapist and patient in 1960s London.

Evelyn Westbrook has given up her career as a model and wants to find fulfilment in married life. But when her husband suggests they start trying for a baby, everything begins to unravel. Struggling to cope with crippling nightmares, Evelyn takes the advice of a friend and goes to see a psychotherapist. She is apprehensive about exposing her intimate issues: what she absolutely does not want to do is unearth the secrets of her past. The enigmatic Dr. Daley, however, is determined to take her back there, and she soon finds herself drawn to him. Evelyn’s interest in her therapist turns to obsession, and she becomes locked in a powerful relationship where the question of whether he is caring for her or manipulating her becomes impossible to untangle.

Author Biography

Lucy Ashe is an English teacher. After training at the Royal Ballet School, she decided to change career plans and go to university. She studied English literature at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, before receiving her teaching qualification. Ashe’s poetry and short stories have been published in a number of literary journals, and she was shortlisted for the 2020 Impress Prize for New Writers.