Friday at the Branches: The Hypnotist's Love Story

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty

Ellen and Patrick meet through an online dating site. Ellen is a 35 year-old hypnotherapist, never married but with a couple of failed relationships in her past. She lives and works in a beach front house left to her by her grandparents. Patrick is a surveyor with his own business, a widower with an 8-year-old son and a monthly habit of visiting his wife’s gravesite and her parents. The one relationship he has had since the death of his wife did not end well. In fact Patrick is now being stalked by his ex-girlfriend. Ellen is curiously fascinated by the stalker, who turns out to be a new client (now stalking Patrick and Ellen). After three months Patrick proposes, Ellen is pregnant, and Saskia/Deborah is furious! Saskia is a menace, but is she dangerous-- is her behaviour escalating? Patrick is a likeable fellow but is he still in love with his dead wife? Is he comparing Ellen to a ghost? Ellen is helping Patrick sleep, but is she crossing an ethical line when she hypnotizes him? Interestingly, the narrative alternates between Saskia’s voice and Ellen’s voice.

Also available in large print!