The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty follows Ellen O’Farrell primarily through third-person narration, with occasional first-person chapters from Saskia Brown, the woman stalking Ellen’s new boyfriend. The story unfolds chronologically, with memories and conversations gradually revealing the complicated relationships that brought everyone to this point.

Ellen Falls in Love with a Man Who Has a Stalker

At thirty-five, Ellen O’Farrell has a comfortable life in Sydney. She works as a clinical hypnotherapist from the charming 1970s house she inherited from her grandparents, overlooking the ocean. Her career is satisfying, her friendships are solid, and she enjoys being independent. What she hasn’t managed to find is a lasting romantic relationship.

After several disappointing boyfriends, including Jon, an atheist engineer who subtly looked down on her profession, Ellen begins dating Patrick Scott, a thirty-five-year-old self-employed land surveyor. Patrick is thoughtful, attractive, and a devoted single father. Their connection feels promising almost immediately.

On their fourth date, however, Patrick makes a startling confession. His ex-girlfriend, Saskia Brown, has been stalking him for three years.

He shows Ellen text messages proving that Saskia is watching them inside the restaurant where they’re eating. She follows him, calls at inappropriate hours, sends endless emails and letters, and seems to know his whereabouts constantly. Although she has never physically attacked him, her relentless presence has made his life miserable.

Ellen is understandably surprised, but she doesn’t run away. As a hypnotherapist, she’s fascinated by the strange ways people behave, and part of her is curious about the woman who can’t let Patrick go. She likes Patrick enough to continue seeing him, and they spend their first night together at her house.

What Ellen doesn’t know is that Saskia has already begun investigating her.

Through Saskia’s first-person narration, we learn that she watched Patrick and Ellen leave a movie theater and go to dinner. She knows their relationship has become intimate, and she is consumed by jealousy. Rather than confront Ellen directly, she books an appointment at Ellen’s hypnotherapy practice under the false name Deborah Vandenberg.

Her stated problem is debilitating, unexplained leg pain. Her real purpose is to get close to the woman who has replaced her.

Patrick’s Past and the Family Saskia Lost

As Ellen and Patrick become more serious, he introduces her to his eight-year-old son, Jack Scott, a skinny, energetic little boy. Ellen quickly grows fond of Jack, although becoming involved with a widower and his child brings complications she hasn’t experienced before.

Patrick’s first wife, Colleen Scott, died of cancer shortly after Jack was born. Patrick was devastated, and his grief shaped much of his life afterward.

Saskia entered his life during that difficult period. She eventually moved in with Patrick and helped raise Jack, becoming an important maternal figure. For two years, she shared their home and participated in the everyday routines of family life.

Then Patrick ended their relationship.

For Patrick, the breakup meant leaving a relationship that no longer worked. For Saskia, it meant losing both the man she loved and the little boy she had helped raise. She has never accepted that separation.

Ellen begins meeting the other people in Patrick’s life. His parents, Maureen and George Scott, welcome her, as does his younger brother, Simon. During dinner at the Scotts’ house, Saskia unexpectedly appears at the front door.

Patrick is furious and threatens to call the police. Saskia retreats, but Ellen notices that Maureen and Simon still feel some sympathy for her. Saskia has no family nearby, particularly since her mother’s death, and they remember how much she once meant to Patrick and Jack.

Ellen also introduces Patrick to her own circle, including her mother, Anne O’Farrell, a doctor who raised Ellen alone, and her godmothers, Mel and Phillipa, known as Pip. Her close friend Julia, whose husband left her for a much younger woman, urges Patrick to seek an Apprehended Violence Order against Saskia.

Although Ellen recognizes that Saskia’s behavior is unacceptable, she continues to wonder what makes someone cling so desperately to a relationship.

An Unexpected Pregnancy and a Proposal in Noosa

Only three months into their romance, Ellen realizes her period is late. A pregnancy test confirms that she’s expecting Patrick’s baby.

The news is overwhelming. Their relationship is still new, and Patrick already has a child. Ellen isn’t sure how to tell him, so she keeps the pregnancy to herself while she considers what it will mean for their future.

At work, she continues seeing clients with a wide variety of problems.

Rosie, a bride-to-be trying to stop smoking before marrying wealthy media businessman Ian Roman, makes an uncomfortable discovery during hypnosis: she doesn’t actually want to marry him. Mary-Kate McMasters, a prickly woman with a fear of driving, attends sessions without revealing much about her professional life. Ellen also treats Alfred Boyle, a shy accountant whose public-speaking anxiety traces back to a childhood experience.

And, of course, she continues treating Deborah Vandenberg, unaware that her mysterious client is Saskia.

Hoping to escape the constant stress of being watched, Patrick surprises Ellen with a romantic weekend in Noosa.

During their flight, he casually mentions that Saskia used to experience terrible unexplained leg pain, which interfered with her love of bushwalking.

Ellen immediately recognizes the connection. Her client Deborah has described the same symptoms. The woman she’s been treating is Patrick’s stalker.

Even worse, Ellen remembers casually telling Deborah about the Noosa trip, including where she and Patrick would be staying at the Sheraton.

Saskia now knows exactly where to find them.

Sure enough, Saskia books a last-minute trip to Noosa.

Patrick, unaware of Ellen’s discovery, arranges a beautiful sunset picnic at a scenic lookout. He gets down on one knee and presents Ellen with an aquamarine engagement ring.

But as he proposes, Ellen sees Saskia approaching.

Unable to contain either secret any longer, Ellen blurts out that she’s pregnant and that Saskia is standing right behind him.

Saskia greets them casually before walking away, leaving Patrick stunned.

Once he recovers, Patrick is thrilled about the pregnancy. He proposes again, and Ellen happily accepts. Despite the bizarre interruption, they return to Sydney engaged and expecting a baby.

Moving In Together While Saskia Gets Closer

Patrick and Jack begin moving into Ellen’s house. Cardboard boxes fill the hallway as the three prepare to become a family.

But Saskia is still finding ways into their lives.

Ellen discovers a book she lent Deborah sitting neatly on her hall table beside a pink camellia. The objects prove that Saskia has entered her home without permission.

Soon afterward, Ellen accompanies Patrick and Jack on their regular trip to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Every month, they visit Colleen’s grave and spend time with her parents, Frank and Millie.

Ellen had originally planned to meet her biological father, David Greenfield, an orthopedic surgeon she has never known. But when her mother reschedules their lunch, Ellen decides to accompany Patrick and Jack instead.

At the cemetery, Patrick introduces her to Colleen’s headstone. Later, while visiting Frank and Millie, Ellen becomes overwhelmed and bursts into tears. Her pregnancy hormones intensify an already emotional experience as she confronts the lasting presence of Patrick’s deceased wife.

Returning home brings another disturbing discovery: freshly baked Anzac biscuits have been left on her doorstep.

Ellen realizes Saskia didn’t simply leave a gift. She used Ellen’s own kitchen to bake them.

The stalking has moved well beyond unwanted messages and public encounters. Saskia is entering the house where Ellen, Patrick, and Jack sleep.

Saskia also follows the couple to an ultrasound appointment. Watching Ellen and Patrick prepare for their baby, she cries in the waiting room, painfully aware that they are building the family she once imagined sharing with Patrick.

Ellen’s Professional Life Begins Falling Apart

While Ellen deals with Saskia’s increasingly invasive behavior, several of her hypnotherapy clients create problems of their own.

Luisa Bell, who has been seeking help for unexplained infertility, discovers that Ellen is pregnant. Furious that her hypnotherapist is expecting a child while she remains unable to conceive, Luisa accuses Ellen of being a fraud and demands her money back.

Then Ian Roman arrives at Ellen’s practice in a rage.

Rosie, who went through with marrying him, has apparently admitted that hypnosis helped her recognize she didn’t love him. Ian blames Ellen for interfering in his marriage and threatens to use his considerable media influence to destroy her reputation.

Soon, journalist Lisa Hamilton from the Daily News contacts Ellen seeking a response to serious allegations about her practice.

Ellen fears that her professional reputation could be ruined.

There are happier developments among her clients, too. After helping Alfred Boyle explore the childhood roots of his public-speaking anxiety, Ellen notices that he might be compatible with Mary-Kate McMasters. She arranges for them to encounter each other in her waiting room, and a romance begins.

At home, Patrick is becoming increasingly stressed by Saskia’s behavior. Ellen uses hypnosis to help him relax and sleep, but while deeply hypnotized, he begins speaking about Colleen.

He reveals lingering grief and guilt over her death, saying that no relationship could ever compare with what he had with his first wife.

Ellen is deeply unsettled. She knows Patrick loved Colleen, but hearing him express those feelings so directly leaves her wondering whether she will always come second to a woman who died.

Saskia Breaks In and Jack Gets Hurt

The situation reaches its breaking point one night when Ellen wakes from disturbing dreams.

Her bedroom is glowing with an eerie orange light caused by a dust storm. At the foot of the bed stands Saskia, silently holding Ellen’s ultrasound photographs.

Saskia has entered their home yet again, this time coming directly into their bedroom while they sleep.

Patrick wakes and reacts furiously, tackling Saskia. Jack appears in the hallway, screaming in terror as the confrontation turns into a chaotic physical struggle.

As Patrick tries to force Saskia out, the three of them tumble down the spiral staircase.

The consequences are serious.

Jack suffers a badly broken arm. Saskia sustains severe pelvic fractures and a broken ankle. Patrick rushes Jack to the hospital, while paramedics take Saskia for treatment.

Despite everything Saskia has done, Ellen decides to visit her in the hospital.

Rather than confront her with anger, Ellen offers to help her let go. She guides Saskia through a hypnotic visualization in which she imagines closing a door on Patrick and Jack, accepting that their lives are no longer hers to share.

It’s an unexpected encounter between the two women, especially after Saskia’s intrusion has resulted in Jack’s injury.

Patrick, however, is determined to protect his family. He compiles a detailed record of Saskia’s stalking incidents and pursues formal legal action, including trespass charges and an Apprehended Violence Order.

The Family Finally Talks About Its Past

The accident forces Patrick and Jack to confront something they’ve avoided discussing for years.

Jack reveals that when he was five, Saskia gave him a lucky marble. He lost it and secretly believed that Saskia disappeared from their lives because he’d been careless with her gift.

For three years, the little boy has carried the belief that he caused the breakup.

Patrick is heartbroken to learn this. He reassures Jack that Saskia’s departure had nothing to do with the marble and that none of it was his fault.

Ellen and Patrick also need to resolve the doubts raised by his hypnotic confession about Colleen.

During a walk along the beach, Patrick explains that he loved Colleen deeply when they were young, but his love for Ellen is different. He describes it as a more mature, complete love, reassuring her that she isn’t simply replacing his first wife.

Their relationship emerges from the crisis stronger, with both finally able to discuss the complicated past that has been affecting their future.

Ellen’s professional problems are resolved as well.

Mary-Kate McMasters reveals that she is a defamation barrister and offers Ellen her legal expertise free of charge. She confronts Ian Roman and Lisa Hamilton, successfully stopping the threatened newspaper article.

Rosie also takes action against her husband, threatening to expose his own embarrassing secrets to the tabloids if he continues harassing Ellen.

With Ian forced to back down, Ellen’s practice is safe.

Saskia Lets Go and Ellen’s Family Grows

Saskia faces the legal consequences of her actions. At her court hearing, she receives a one-year good behavior bond, an Apprehended Violence Order, and mandatory weekly psychiatric therapy.

Her recovery is gradual.

Working with her psychiatrist, Saskia begins processing the grief and loss that have dominated her life. She takes up knitting, develops genuine friendships with her colleague Lance and his wife, Kate, and moves in with her old friend Tammy.

As her life becomes more stable, the mysterious leg pain that originally brought her to Ellen’s practice disappears completely.

For the first time in years, Saskia is building a life that doesn’t revolve around Patrick and Jack.

Ellen also makes progress in her personal life beyond her relationship with Patrick. She finally meets her biological father, David Greenfield, and the two share a pleasant lunch at an olive festival, beginning a relationship that had been missing throughout her life.

On Valentine’s Day, Ellen gives birth by planned Cesarean section to a healthy daughter, Grace Lily Scott.

Six months later, the family is doing well. Patrick is a loving father, Jack adores his little sister, and Ellen is happily settled into the life she and Patrick have created together.

The story ends with one last encounter that never quite happens.

Walking through Circular Quay, Saskia spots Ellen in the distance, pushing baby Grace in a stroller.

For years, Saskia would have followed, watched, or found some excuse to insert herself into Patrick’s family. This time, she does none of those things.

She smiles quietly to herself, turns away, and disappears into the passing crowd, leaving Ellen and her family undisturbed.