[Newmag Summer Fest] Why and How Newmag Translated the Main Hit of this Summer - “The Maidens” Psychological Thriller (photos, video in Armenian)

When Newmag published Alex Michaelides’s "The Silent Patient" in early 2021, the publishing house was not sure that this genre would be accepted by Armenian readers. To the surprise of the publication, the reader loved it and bought the first edition, eagerly awaiting the author's new novel. The head of Newmag Publishing House gives details on how Newmag managed to present this international bestseller in Armenian. “When the copies of “The Silent Patient" expired so quickly, I read the author's new book and decided to translate it into Armenian. The translator and the editor did a great job of continuing the dynamic plot in gentle Armenian.”

The chief editor of Newmag publishing house Gnel Nalbandyan mentions that being one of the first publishers of this book in the world market is an important milestone for Armenian publishing houses.  “We can consider this as an important milestone and a good tradition. We are the first in both the local and regional market that have translated this book. Newmag has a crucial role in this sphere.”

This book, as the first book of the author, is a psychological thriller. The book involves the same themes as "The Silent Patient" - Greek mythology, psychology and murder. The book is a philosophical detective with subtle mythological and psychotherapeutic twists. The irresistible charm of Michaelides's literature is also due to his directing skills. The book is like a movie, where all the details are taken into consideration.

The translator of this bestseller is Astghik Atabekyan. She has also translated Michaelides’s first thriller - “The Silent Patient”. Astghik Atabekyan assures that the time was short, but in the case of this book it was enough. Both reading and translation were done in one breath. Translator believes that the Armenian translation should have been as easy and intriguing for the reader as the original one.“His novels are like movie scripts. As in the case of “The Silent Patient", the protagonist is a psychotherapist who penetrates the depths of the human soul and tries to understand what is happening. The actions unfold rapidly and in an intriguing manner.”

The main character of the movie is Edward Fosca. He is a handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University. Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as “The Maidens”. 

The editor of the Armenian translation Margarita Sargsyan says that the discussions and noise around the novel are justified. “If people extensively speak about the book, it means that the reader liked it. We worked with the translator with great pleasure and tried to give the Armenian reader an opportunity to read the book with one breath. The book is very intriguing and the reader continuously tries to understand what’s the next move.”

Book critics consider "The Maidens" an irresistible continuation, which was preceded by the tempting start of the first book.