Patrick McGrath

Patrick McGrath was born in London on February 7, 1950, and grew up in the neighborhood of Broadmoor Hospital, where his father worked as a director. After studying at Aston University in Birmingham, he worked at a psychiatric clinic in Ontario, Canada. He later settled in Vancouver, where he worked as a teacher in an elementary school and spent several years of his life on a remote island in the North Pacific. In 1981, he moved to New York City, where he continues to live with his wife, actress Maria Aitken, dividing his time between America and London. He is considered a representative of the neo-Gothic style in English literature, with protagonists who face psychological issues with dramatic intensity or have been hospitalized in psychiatric institutions. His books often reveal a slight pessimism about marital relationships. "Perhaps my books depict what I fear might happen," he claims. Three of his novels have been adapted into films: "The Grotesque" (1989), directed by John-Paul Davidson, starring Alan Bates, Lena Headey, Theresa Russell, and Sting, in 1995; "Spider" (1990, Greek title: "Στον ιστό της αράχνης," published by Psichogios in 2003), directed by David Cronenberg, starring Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Richardson, in 2002; and "Asylum" (1996, Greek title "Απαγορευμένο πάθος," published by Psichogios in 2000), directed by David Mackenzie, starring Natasha Richardson and Marton Csokas, in 2005—films that received critical acclaim. He has also written the novels: "Dr Haggard's Disease," 1993; "Martha Peake," 2000 (Premio Flaiano award); "Port Mungo," 2004; "Trauma," 2008; "Constance," 2013; "The Wardrobe Mistress," 2017 (Greek title "Το φάντασμα του βεστιαρίου," Metaichmio 2019); and the short story collections "Blood and Water and Other Tales," 1989, and "Ghost Town: Tales of Manhattan Then and Now," 2005 (Greek title "Νέα Υόρκη: Πόλη των φαντασμάτων," Metaichmio 2006).