Books by Patricia Highsmith

Book SynopsisTom Ripley detested murder. Unless it was absolutely necessary. Wherever possible, he preferred someone else to do the dirty work. In this case someone with no criminal record, who would commit ''two simple murders'' for a very generous fee.Trade ReviewTo call Patricia Highsmith a thriller writer is true but not the whole truth: her books have stylistic texture, psychological depth, mesmeric readability * Sunday Times *Highsmith has done it again. It seems to me she has reached a point where because she knows exactly what she is about she cannot miss * The Times *It's hard to imagine anyone interested in modern fiction who has not read the Ripley novels * Daily Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis''If I really don''t like somebody, I kill him . . . You remember Malcolm McRae, don''t you?''Melinda Van Allen is beautiful, headstrong and sexy. Unfortunately for Vic Van Allen, she is his wife. Their love has soured, and Melinda takes pleasure in flaunting her many affairs to her husband. When one of her lovers is murdered, Vic hints to her latest conquest that he was responsible. As rumours spread about Vic''s vicious streak, fiction and reality start to converge. It''s only a matter of time before Vic really does have blood on his hands.Books included in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Trade ReviewThe outstanding merit of Deep Water is the dexterity with which it develops the psychopath's portrait from the first faint agreeable outline to the full dark horrific colours of schizophrenia. If you read crime stories at all or perhaps especially if you don't, you should read Deep Water. * Sunday Times *My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of 20th-century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A. N. Wilson * Daily Telegraph *I love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing was * Gillian Flynn *The outstanding merit of Deep Water is the dexterity with which it develops the psychopath's portrait from the first faint agreeable outline to the full dark horrific colours of schizophrenia. If you read crime stories at all or perhaps especially if you don't, you should read Deep Water. * Sunday Times *An atmosphere of nameless dread, of unspeakable foreboding, permeates every page of Patricia Highsmith, and there's nothing quite like it. * Boston Globe *My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of 20th-century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A.N Wilson * Daily Telegraph *I love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing was * Gillian Flynn *

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAININTRODUCED BY DENISE MINA''Highsmith probes to the very core of her heroine with a controlled ferocity and single-mindedness that illuminates every page of her novel'' THE TIMES ''A work of extraordinary force and feeling . . . her strongest, her most imaginative'' NEW YORKER ''One of the mere twenty or so that I would say were perfect, unimprovable masterpieces'' A. N Wilson, DAILY TELEGRAPH Edith Howland''s diary is her most precious possession, and as she is moving house she is making sure it''s safe. A suburban housewife in fifties America, she is moving to Brunswick with her husband Brett and her beloved son, Cliffie, to start a new life for them all. She is optimistic, but most of all she has high hopes for her new venture with Brett, a local newspaper, the Brunswick Corner BugleTrade ReviewHighsmith probes to the very core of her heroine with a controlled ferocity and single-mindedness that illuminates every page of her novel. It is a masterly book, a haunting book, a book that lingers long in the memory and constantly disturbs and delights * The Times *Edith's Diary is certainly one of the saddest novels I ever read, but it is also one of the mere twenty or so that I would say were perfect, unimprovable masterpieces -- A. N. Wilson * Telegraph *As original, as funny, as cleverly written and as moving as any novel I have read since I started reviewing -- Auberon Waugh * Evening Standard *Edith's fall takes the form of a psychological chiller, but there is also something larger, the poignancy of her struggle not to go under. She is betrayed by such ordinary dreams -- New York TimesA work of extraordinary force and feeling . . . her strongest, her most imaginative and by far her most substantial novel * New Yorker *Moral speculations surface about the respective responsibilities of the uncaring and the unloved, tenterhooks cushioned with an enveloping intimacy of character and place * Kirkus Reviews *Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing ....bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night * The New Yorker *Edith's fall takes the form of a psychological chiller, but there is also something larger, the poignancy of her struggle not to go under. She is betrayed by such ordinary dreams * New York Times *Highsmith probes to the very core of her heroine with a controlled ferocity and single-mindedness that illumines every page of her novel. It is a masterly book, a haunting book, a book that lingers long in the memory and constantly disturbs and delights. -- The Times * The Times *A work of extraordinary force and feeling . . . her strongest, her most imaginative and by far her most substantial novel -- New Yorker * New Yorker *As original, as funny, as cleverly written and as moving as any novel I have read since I started reviewing -- Auberon Waugh * The Evening Standard *Edith's Diary is certainly one of the saddest novels I ever read, but it is also one of the mere twenty or so that I would say were perfect, unimprovable masterpieces -- A.N Wilson * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThose Who Walk Away is a brilliant psychological thriller - a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in the labyrinthine streets of Venice.Trade ReviewBears Highsmith's unique, unsurpassed mixture of unsettling psychological insights, moods of tension and malice, and an ending of brilliant ambiguity * The Times *Highsmith is a damn fine writer * Guardian *Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamNo one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *[Highsmith is] the doyenne of upmarket suspense writing * Daily Telegraph *A strange but compelling psychological novel, in which one man repeatedly tries to murder another while both are having what seems a rather a nice holiday in Venice. It demonstrates all of Highsmith's best qualities: atmosphere, -- Andrew Martin * The Week *A writer who has created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger . . . Highsmith is the poet of apprehension -- Graham GreeneOne of the greatest modernist writers -- Gore VidalThe setting is Venice, the characterisation brilliant, the style spare and superb * Daily Mail *Illuminating - and always compelling * New York Times *Highsmith keeps moving, darting in and out of our field of vision, making afterimages that will tremble - but stay - in our minds * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisNow a major film starring Oscar-winner Ben Affleck and Golden Globe-nominee Ana de Armas.''If you read crime stories at all or perhaps especially if you don''t, you should read Deep Water''SUNDAY TIMES''If I really don''t like somebody, I kill him . . . You remember Malcolm McRae, don''t you?''To everyone around them, Melinda and Vic Van Allen are the perfect couple - young, wealthy and attractive. But when their love sours, their mind games reach a twisted, dangerous climax.''If I really don''t like somebody, I kill him . . . You remember Malcolm McRae, don''t you?''Melinda Van Allen is beautiful, headstrong and sexy. Unfortunately for Vic Van Allen, she is his wife. Their love has soured, and Melinda takes pleasure in flaunting her many affairs to her husband. When one of her lovers is murdered, Vic hints to her latest conquest that he was responsible. As rumours spread about Vic''s vicious streak, fictTrade ReviewThe outstanding merit of Deep Water is the dexterity with which it develops the psychopath's portrait from the first faint agreeable outline to the full dark horrific colours of schizophrenia. If you read crime stories at all or perhaps especially if you don't, you should read Deep Water. * Sunday Times *My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of 20th-century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A. N. Wilson * Daily Telegraph *I love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing was * Gillian Flynn *The outstanding merit of Deep Water is the dexterity with which it develops the psychopath's portrait from the first faint agreeable outline to the full dark horrific colours of schizophrenia. If you read crime stories at all or perhaps especially if you don't, you should read Deep Water. * Sunday Times *An atmosphere of nameless dread, of unspeakable foreboding, permeates every page of Patricia Highsmith, and there's nothing quite like it. * Boston Globe *My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of 20th-century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A.N Wilson * Daily Telegraph *I love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing was * Gillian Flynn *

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN INTRODUCED BY DENISE MINA''Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense'' MARK BILLINGHAM''She kind of takes you by the hand and walks you toward the cliff. I like that sensation'' GILLIAN FLYNN ''One of Highsmith''s finest novels'' NEW YORK TIMES A gripping novel that explores the shifting sands of moral values - is murder still murder when committed in a lawless place?Howard Ingham, an American writer, is in Tunisia working on a screenplay, and feeling stranded. No one has written to him since he arrived - neither the film director who he is supposed to be meeting in Tunis, nor his lover in New York. The erratic mail eventually brings news of the director''s suicide. For reasons obscure even to himself, Ingham decides to stay and work on a Trade ReviewThe no.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *Highsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it -- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *She kind of takes you by the hand and walks you toward the cliff. I like that sensation -- Gillian FlynnNo one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *One of Highsmith's finest novels * New York Times *Her best novel * New Yorker *Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear . . . Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremor of Forgery, and if I were asked what it is about I would reply, "apprehension"' -- Graham GreeneI love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing is -- Gillian Flynn * Wall Street Journal *One of her best books . . . She creates a lot of dread and a lot of apprehension very casually -- Jonathan Lethem * Chicago Tribune *

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING VIGGO MORTENSON AND KIRSTEN DUNST By the bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train. ''The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense'' MARK BILLINGHAM ''The No. 1 greatest crime writer'' THE TIMES ''I''m a huge fan'' SARAH WATERS Two men meet in the picturesque backstreets of Athens. Chester MacFarlane is a conman with multiple false identities, near the end of his rope and on the run with his young wife Colette. Rydal Keener is a young drifter looking for adventure: he finds it in one evening as the law catches up to Chester and Colette, and their fates become fatally entwined.Patricia Highsmith draws us deep into a cross-European game of cat and mouse in this masterpiece of suspense from the bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley.Trade ReviewHighsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamThere are many attractive parts to this thriller - handsome leads, a meaty Patricia Highsmith plot, Mediterranean sunlight on cream linen suits * Guardian *The No. 1 greatest crime writer * The Times *An offbeat, provocative and absorbing suspense novel * New York Times *With fantastic pace and mounting tension the plot propels you into a nail-biting game of cat-and-mouse -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *I'm a huge fan -- Sarah WatersHighsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing . . . bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night * New Yorker *[Highsmith's] characters are irrational, and they leap to life in their very lack of reason . . . Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear -- Graham GreeneSuspenseful and evocative * Stylist *

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR NEW NETFLIX SERIESTom Ripley wants money, success, and the good life - and he''s willing to kill for it.Struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors (and the law), Ripley leaps at the chance to start afresh on a free trip to Europe. But when his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.Now a major new Netflix series, The Talented Mr Ripley is the first in Highsmith's classic series featuring the character of Tom Ripley fiction's most terrifying con-man.''The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer'' The Times''Ripley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation'' Daily Telegraph

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Book Synopsis**AS SEEN ON WRITE AROUND THE WORLD WITH RICHARD E GRANT**'The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer' The Times'Ripley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation' Daily Telegraph'He is using you for what you are worth'Tom Ripley wants money, success, and the good life - and he's willing to kill for it. Struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors, and the law, Ripley leaps at the chance to start afresh on a free trip to Europe. But when his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.This is the first in Highsmith's classic series featuring the character of Tom Ripley. The Talented Mr Ripley also inspired the Academy Award-winning film starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law.One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.Trade ReviewRipley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation * Daily Telegraph *As haunting and harrowing a study of a schizophrenic murder as paper will bear. A glittering addition to the meagre ranks of people who make books that you really can't put down * Sunday Times *Precisely plotted, stylishly written and kept alert by an icy wit. Streets ahead of the conventional thriller: a cool little classic of its kind * Evening Standard *An outstanding thriller which has deservedly become a classic * Spectator *Beautifully escapist, utterly thrilling * Healthy, *Summer Reads of 2021* *

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Book SynopsisThe gripping finale to Patricia Highsmith''s legendary RIPLEY series, the inspiration for the hit Netflix seriesCompelling ... Highsmith''s writing is as insistent as strange footsteps in the fog'' SUNDAY TIMESThe Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable'' THE TIMESTom Ripley is quietly living a life of luxury at his chateau at Villeperce, and, as ever, is keeping one step ahead of the law - he has, after all, a past that would not bear too much close scrutiny, and a basement with suspicious stains on the floor...This fifth and final novel in the series finds the sophisticated and amoral American expatriate being harassed by David Pritchard, a fellow American whose boorishness marks him as something of Ripley''s alter-ego. Inexplicably familiar with all the incriminating details of Ripley''s past, Pritchard is determined to expose him.He shadows Ripley''s every move, first spying on him at home in France and then following him to Morocco. TensTrade Review'A gripping addition to the Ripliad' Daily Telegraph 'Compelling ... Highsmith's writing is as insistent as strange footsteps in the fog' Sunday Times 'The Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable' The Times 'Ripley is back, as polite and lethal as ever ... he does what he wants and gets away with it. That's why we like him' Time Out

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ''Very wicked, very funny . . . very unsettling'' GUARDIAN ''Each story is more appalling than the next, deadpan in tone and dripping with black humour'' INDEPENDENT''These little tales are tremendous fun, glorious hand grenades lobbed at the reader by a gleeful, cackling Patricia Highsmith'' DAN RHODES Little Tales of Misogyny is Highsmith''s legendary, cultish short-story collection. With an eerie simplicity of style, Highsmith turns our next-door neighbours into sadistic psychopaths, lying in wait among white picket fences and manicured lawns. In these darkly satirical, often hilarious, sketches you''ll meet seemingly familiar women with the power to destroy both themselves and the men around them.All these funny and provocative stories are marked by Patricia Highsmith''s individual view Trade ReviewThese little tales are tremendous fun, glorious hand grenades lobbed at the reader by a gleeful, cackling Patricia Highsmith -- Dan Rhodes For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith Time These are extraordinary stories ... etched in acid and unforgettable ... Highsmith is a mistress of a fine and dangerous art. Let the reader beware Financial Times It's not just the men who come off badly in this short, sharp shock of a collection... Each story is more appalling than the next, deadpan in tone and dripping with black humour. The Independent Very wicked, very funny and - this being Highsmith's mission in life, as far as one can tell - very unsettling Guardian

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author Patricia Highsmith comes a brilliantly gripping psychological thriller about the fine line between love and obsession. Now reissued as part of the Virago Modern Classics Green Spines design.

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Book SynopsisNamed by The Times as the all-time number one crime writer, Patricia Highsmith was an author who broke new ground and defied genre clichés with novels such as The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train.In the classic creative writing guide Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, Highsmith reveals her secrets for producing world-class crime and thrillers, from imaginative tips for generating ideas to useful ways of turning them into stunning stories.

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Book Synopsis"You're always good on ideas, Tom..."An American art collector is claiming that the expensive masterpiece he bought is a fake. He wants to meet with the artist - but Tom Ripley knows that artist no longer exits.Ripley needs to hide his role in the fraud, and keep his colleague's mouth shut. But not everyone's nerves are as steady as his, especially when it comes to murder.The second in Highsmith's Ripley series, Ripley Under Ground is set six years after the events of The Talented Mr Ripley.'Patricia Highsmith is unrivalled' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewIn Ripley Under Ground Patricia Highsmith is in her most brilliant form * Daily Telegraph *The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *Ripley Under Ground is Highsmith back on top of her most enjoyable humour-and-horrors form * Sunday Telegraph *By her hypnotic art Highsmith puts the suspense story into a toweringly high place in the hierachy of fiction * The Times *The Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable * The Times *

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Book Synopsis'Extraordinary... one of her finest novels' Guardian"If everybody in the world didn't keep watching to see what everybody else did, we'd all go berserk."Jenny believes that sighting an owl is a portent of death. When she spots a stranger looking in through her window one night, she believes that he is an omen too. But fate doesn't work in the way that either of them expect.This novel of suspense and paranoia draws on Highsmith's own experience of being a stalker.Trade ReviewPatricia Highsmith has an extraordinary talent for the sinister, and this is well revealed in The Cry of the Owl, one of her finest novels -- Robert Nye * Guardian *Patricia Highsmith is a craftsman who has made the suspense novel her own domain * The Times *The basic nightmare situation - to be accused of a crime you did not commit and be unable to prove your innocence- is the subject of The Cry of the Owl... It's Kafka with a vengeance... compulsive * Spectator *A rare talent, a remarkable novelist... her books are written in elegant and lucid prose -- John Mortimer

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, A KIND OF MURDER, STARRING PATRICK WILSON AND JESSICA BIEL By the bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train''Almost unputdownable. Miss Highsmith writes about men like a spider writing about flies'' OBSERVER''History will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid'' A. N. WILSON, DAILY TELEGRAPH ''Peerlessly disturbing . . . bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night '' NEW YORKER For two years, the young, successful and handsome Walter Stackhouse has been a faithful and supportive husband to his wife, Clara. She is distant and neurotic, and Walter finds himself harbouring gruesome fantasies about her demise. Then Clara''s dead body turns up at the bottom of a cliff in a manner uncannily resembling the recent death of a woman named Helen Kimmel who was murdered by her husband. Under Trade ReviewAlmost unputdownable. Miss Highsmith writes about men like a spider writing about flies. The Observer Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing ...bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night The New Yorker One of the greatest modernist writers Gore Vidal My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of 20th-century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A.N Wilson Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ''Bears Highsmith''s unique, unsurpassed mixture of unsettling psychological insights'' THE TIMES ''The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense'' MARK BILLINGHAM ''Highsmith''s novels are peerlessly disturbing . . . bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night'' NEW YORKER Sydney Bartleby has killed his wife. At least, he has thought about it, compulsively, repeatedly, plotting schemes, designing escapes, forging alibis. Of course he has; he''s a thriller writer. He even knows how to dispose of her body. But when Alicia takes a long, unannounced holiday, Sydney descends into the treacherous world of his own fantasy.A masterpiece of noir fantasy in which Highsmith revels in eliciting the unsettling psychological forces that lurk beneath the surface of everyday lifeTrade ReviewBears Highsmith's unique, unsurpassed mixture of unsettling psychological insights, moods of tension and malice, and an ending of brilliant ambiguity * The Times *Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamHighsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it -- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *A Suspension of Mercy, a masterpiece of noir fantasy. With this novel, Highsmith revels in eliciting the unsettling psychological forces that lurk beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life. For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith * Time *Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing . . . bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night * New Yorker *It's a curious and absorbing novel, almost unique in its fantastic and ironic tone -- Anthony Boucher * New York Times *A literary hall of mirrors in which reality and fiction are constantly reflected and, ultimately, confused -- Andrew Wilson

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Book SynopsisHighsmith blends savage humour with brilliant social satire in this dark tale.Trade ReviewThe No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian FlynnHighsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamFor eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith * Time *No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *(Highsmith) edges her readers toward the insane territory inhabited by her people . . . readers are sure to be left feeling by turns startled, oppresed, amused and queasy * New York Times Book Review *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian FlynnNo one has created psychological suspense more deliciously satisfying * Vogue *Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamThe no.1 greatest crime writer * The Times *

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ''Highsmith writes about men like a spider writing about flies'' OBSERVER ''For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there''s no one like Patricia Highsmith'' TIME ''The Glass Cell has lost little of its disturbing power . . . Highsmith was a genuine one-off'' DAILY TELEGRAPH Based on a true story, The Glass Cell is Highsmith''s deeply disturbing fictionalisation of everything she learned. Falsely convicted of fraud, the easy-going but naive Philip Carter is sent to prison. Despite his devotion to Hazel, his wife, and the support of David Sullivan, a lawyer and friend who tries to avenge the injustice done to him, Carter endures six lonely and drug-ravaged years. Upon his release, Carter is a much more discerning, suspicious, and violent man. His beautiful wife is waitingTrade ReviewBears Highsmith's unique, unsurpassed mixture of unsettling psychological insights, moods of tension and malice, and an ending of brilliant ambiguity * The Times *There's more to Patricia Highsmith than Ripley -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *My suspicion is that when the dust has settled and when the chronicle of twentieth century American literature comes to be written, history will place Highsmith at the top of the pyramid, as we should place Dostoevsky at the top of the Russian hierarchy of novelists -- A. N. Wilson * Daily Telegraph *Highsmith writes about men like a spider writing about flies * Observer *For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith * Time *[Highsmith's] characters are irrational, and they leap to life in their very lack of reason; suddenly we realize how unbelievably rational most fictional characters are. . . . Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear -- Graham Greene

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Book Synopsis'Marvellously, insanely readable... Highsmith has done it again' The Times"There's no such thing as a perfect murder... That's just a parlor game, trying to dream one up."Tom Ripley is enjoying his wealthy lifestyle in France, until an associate asks him to kill someone again. But Ripley detests murder, unless it is absolutely necessary. Someone else should do the dirty work for them - yes, someone with no criminal record could earn a very generous fee for doing a couple of simple murders.Ripley's Game is the third book in Highsmith's Ripley series, and was made into a film starring John Malkovich.Trade ReviewTo call Patricia Highsmith a thriller writer is true but not the whole truth: her books have stylistic texture, psychological depth, mesmeric readability * Sunday Times *Highsmith has done it again. It seems to me she has reached a point where because she knows exactly what she is about she cannot miss * The Times *It's hard to imagine anyone interested in modern fiction who has not read the Ripley novels * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisTom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over. Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he's willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.Trade ReviewRipley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation * Daily Telegraph *As haunting and harrowing a study of a schizophrenic murder as paper will bear. A glittering addition to the meagre ranks of people who make books that you really can't put down * Sunday Times *Precisely plotted, stylishly written and kept alert by an icy wit. Streets ahead of the conventional thriller: a cool little classic of its kind * Evening Standard *An outstanding thriller which has deservedly become a classic * Spectator *Beautifully escapist, utterly thrilling * Healthy, *Summer Reads of 2021* *

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Book SynopsisIn A Game for the Living threads of sexual jealousy and guilt are shot through with all Patricia Highsmith's uncanny talent for the unexpected.Trade ReviewThe No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian FlynnHighsmith writes about men like a spider writing about flies * Observer *For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith * Time *There's no thriller writer's gamesmanship in her novels, none of the reassuring trickery of professional pulp; Highsmith's style is as blunt and straightforward as a strip-search * New Yorker *For some obscure reason, one of our greatest modernist writers, Patricia Highsmith, has been thought of in her own land as a writer of thrillers. She is both. She is certainly one of the most interesting writers of this dismal century -- Gore VidalClassic * USA Today *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian Flynn

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Book SynopsisA BEAUTIFUL NEW EDITION OF THE BELOVED, CLASSIC NOVELTherese is just an ordinary sales assistant working in a New York department store when a beautiful, alluring woman in her thirties walks up to her counter. Standing there, Therese is wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. Therese is an awkward nineteen-year-old with a job she hates and a boyfriend she doesn''t love; Carol is a sophisticated, bored suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce and a custody battle for her only daughter. As Therese becomes irresistibly drawn into Carol''s world, she soon realizes how much they both stand to lose...First published pseudonymously in 1952 as The Price of Salt, Carol is a hauntingly atmospheric love story set against the backdrop of fifties'' New York.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the fourth novel in the iconic, propulsive RIPLEY series - now a major Netflix series starring Andrew Scott***''The Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable'' THE TIMES ''It''s hard to imagine anyone interested in modern fiction who has not read the Ripley novels'' DAILY TELEGRAPH ''Peerlessly Disturbing'' NEW YORKER When a troubled young runaway arrives on Tom Ripley''s French estate, he is drawn into a world he thought he''d left behind: the seedy underworld of Berlin, involving kidnapping plots, lies and deception. Ripley becomes the boy''s protector as friendship develops between the young man with a guilty conscience and the older one with no conscience at all. Highsmith shatters our perceptions of her most famous creation by letting us glimpse a more compassionate side of this amoral charmer.The Boy Who Followed Ripley is followed by Ripley Under WaterTrade ReviewMore than any other American literary character, Ripley provides a lens to peer into the sinister machinations of human behavior -- John Freeman Pittsburgh Gazette

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Book Synopsis'Some books change lives. This is one of them' Val McDermid A haunting story of obsessive love which scandalized the world when first publishedTrade Review'Has the drive of a thriller but the imagery of a romance ... This is a book that is hard to set aside; it demands to be read late into the night with eyes burning and heart racing' Val McDermid 'A document of persecuted love ... perfect' Independent 'Gently exploratory, genuinely moving' Mail on Sunday 'An original, honest novel, a remarkable imaginative achievement by any standard ... compelling' Financial Times

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN'' The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense'' MARK BILLINGHAM ''Her books have stylistic texture, psychological depth, mesmeric readability'' SUNDAY TIMES ''Uncomfortable, frightening, compulsive and, worst of all, terribly believable'' TIME OUTOn a stroll through Greenwich Village, security guard Ralph Linderman finds a wallet on the sidewalk. It belongs to Jack Sutherland, a wealthy aspiring artist, and it is his misfortune to have it returned to him - with all $263 and credit cards untouched. Because now Ralph knows where Jack lives.Elsie Tyler is a beautiful young waitress - an innocent in New York - and Ralph feels he must protect her from ''bad company''. When he sees Elsie leaving Jack''s apartment, he is not pleased. Not pleased at all. He is entirely unprepared for the complTrade ReviewBy her hypnotic art Patricia Highsmith puts the suspense story into a toweringly high place in the hierarchy of fiction * The Times *Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamTo call Patricia Highsmith a thriller writer is true but not the whole truth: her books have stylistic texture, psychological depth, mesmeric readability * Sunday Times *Highsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it -- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *Uncomfortable, frightening, compulsive and, worst of all, terribly believable * Time Out *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian FlynnNo one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *One of the finest crime novelists * New York Times *An extremely clever novel . . . there is no one quite like Highsmith -- Anita BrooknerIntoxicating flavor and promise * Publishers Weekly *Highsmith, a pioneer of the psychopathology thriller, is to some extent responsible for the high level of craft at work in that genre today * Kirkus Reviews *An extremely clever novel . . . there is no one quite like Highsmith -- Anita Brookner

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ''Venomously accurate'' SUNDAY TIMES ''A border zone of the macabre, the disturbing, the not quite accidental . . . Highsmith achieves the effect of the occult without any resources to supernatural machinery'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ''No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying'' VOGUE People Who Knock on the Door is a tale about blind faith and the slippery notion of justice that lies beneath the peculiarly American veneer of righteousness.In a pitiless story of prying suburban self-righteousness, Patricia Highsmith introduces the Alderman family as they descend into moral crisis. When small-town insurance salesman Richard Alderman becomes a born-again Christian, his once tight-knit family quickly begins to rip apart at the seamTrade ReviewVenomously accurate * Sunday Times *No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *A border zone of the macabre, the disturbing, the not quite accidental . . . Highsmith achieves the effect of the occult without any resources to supernatural machinery * New York Times Book Review *Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing . . . bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night * New Yorker *A writer who has created a world of her own . . . Patricia Highsmith is the poet of apprehension -- Graham Greene

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Book SynopsisA suspenseful full-cast BBC radio adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's classic psychological thrillerWhen Guy Haines meets Charles Bruno in the dining car of a Texas-bound train, they share their secrets in the way that only strangers can. Charles confides his hatred for his controlling father, Guy confesses that he is divorcing his unfaithful wife. As the drink flows and the conversation turns darker, Charles proposes the perfect solution to both their problems - a murder swap - and Guy laughingly agrees.Back home, he quickly forgets their drunken pact: but Charles does not. Soon Guy is facing a nightmarish choice - fulfil his part of the bargain, or be framed for a murder he didn't commit...Dramatised for radio by award-winning playwright Craig Warner, this disturbing tale of obsession, blackmail, guilt and fear stars Michael Sheen (Good Omens, Staged) as Guy Haines and Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones, Endeavour) as Charles Bruno.CreditsWritten by Craig Warner, based on the novel by Patricia HighsmithOriginal music by Craig WarnerDirected by Andy JordanCastCharles Bruno........................Anton LesserGuy Haines........................Michael SheenAnne........................Saskia ReevesGerard........................Bill NighyElsie Bruno........................Jane WhittenshawAlex........................Denys HawthorneMyers........................Roger MayTreacher........................Stephen CritchlowCop........................John HartleyFrear........................Andrew BranchFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 25 January 1996Strangers on a Train © 1993 by Diogenes Verlag AG Zurich, all rights reserved.© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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Book SynopsisFive gripping full-cast adaptations of Patricia Highsmith's bestselling 'Ripley' series - plus bonus materialCharming, cultured and clever, Tom Ripley has a taste for the finer things in life. And he is determined to get them, by any means necessary...These five plays - The Talented Mr Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water - chart Tom's journey from impoverished conman to wealthy bon viveur and serial killer. His homicidal adventures begin when he befriends shipping heir Dickie Greenleaf: he wants money, success, and he's willing to kill for it. But when he attains the luxurious lifestyle he craves, he is always on the edge of being discovered. Will his shadowy past finally catch up with him?BAFTA-winning actor Ian Hart stars as Ripley in these tense, thrilling dramas. Also included are two bonus documentaries: Looking for Ripley, in which crime writer Mark Billingham unravels the mystery behind our lasting fascination with Tom Ripley, and A Passionate Affair, presented by Marcel Berlins, who asks whether Patricia Highsmith fell in love with her suave, amoral anti-hero.Text © 1993 by Diogenes Verlag AG Zurich, all rights reserved.© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY PAULA HAWKINS, AUTHOR OF GIRL ON A TRAIN"Hey! Cheeses, what an idea! I kill your wife and you kill my father! We meet on a train, see, and nobody knows we know each other! Perfect alibis! Catch?"From this moment, almost against his conscious will, Guy Haines is trapped in a nightmare of shared guilt and an insidious merging of personalities. The psychologists would call it folie a deux...Strangers on a Train was Patricia Highsmith's first novel, and adapted into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock.'A true original in crime fiction' The TimesTrade ReviewA gem... A magnificent suspense * Daily Mail *A writer who created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger -- Graham GreeneA true original in crime fiction and a superb writer * The Times *Her writing is clean, exact, polished to a hard glint; she combines an acute emotional perceptiveness with a disturbing readiness to torture her characters and, by extension, her audience * Stylist *

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Book Synopsis''My secrets - the secrets that everyone has - are here, in black and white.''Before Alfred Hitchcock adapted her debut novel, Strangers on a Train, for the big screen; before Thomas Ripley snaked his way into the canon of psychological suspense; before Carol became a cult classic of romantic obsession, who was Patricia Highsmith?Beginning in 1941 and encompassing Highsmith''s adventurous twenties, The New York Years is an intimate self-portrait of a young artist, reading voraciously and honing her craft, intertwined with scenes from her dizzying social life, rife with sleepless nights spent in the queer bars of Greenwich Village.This condensed edition of Highsmith''s monumental Diaries and Notebooks offers all the pleasures of her fiction, along with an unparalleled insight into the life, mind and times of this enigmatic, iconic, trailblazing author. ''One of the most observant and ecstatic accounts . . . Trade ReviewThe whole book is excellent. Highsmith is pointed and dry about herself and everything else. But the early chapters are special. They comprise one of the most observant and ecstatic accounts I've read - and it's a crowded field! - about being young and alive in New York City * New York Times *Offers the most complete picture ever published of how Highsmith saw herself * New York Times *One of the finest writers in the English language -- Richard OsmanOne of the literary highlights of 2021 * Guardian *I don't think I've ever met a person as troubling or intelligent, frustrating and frustrated, and triumphantly alone. A master diarist as much as novelist. Highsmith's Her Diaries and Notebooks are a portrait of a time, a long passage from the forties to the nineties, and you've never travelled on this perspective before -- Eileen MylesHighsmith's astonishing candour in the witness stand of her personal notebooks, and heartbreaking self-exposures in the jury box of her diaries, are like nothing else in American confessional literature -- Joan SchenkarI love Highsmith so much. What a revelation her writing was -- Gillian FlynnFew writers fathomed with such intensity the dark places of the human mind * Evening Standard *There is no one quite like Highsmith -- Anita BrooknerHighsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it -- J. G. BallardOpens a window onto this extraordinary writer's inner life and working methods . . . a welcome addition to the work of a most eccentric genius * Evening Standard *The quippiness of the journals is a delight, few can sum up the creative life this deliciously * Observer *Provides stunning access to the mind of a notoriously secretive author * Vanity Fair *[Her Diaries and Notebooks] testify to the recalcitrant, unrelenting spirit of this great American curmudgeon and gifted crime writer * Focus *A quarter century after the death of novelist Highsmith (1921-1995), fans are given a fascinating and unprecedented look into the 'playground for her imagination' . . . Devotees and historians alike will linger over every morsel * Publishers Weekly *Disclosures from a meticulously documented life. . . An admirably edited volume for scholars and voracious fans * Kirkus Reviews *A vivid portrait of a driven, impassioned, brutal and remarkably singular person, with a vast appetite for women, alcohol and - above all - her work * New Statesman *Here comes Patricia Highsmith at last, striding out of the closet, in her own words . . . A frank, and frankly disturbing, portrait of a writer who concealed the personal sources of her work for her entire life * Literary Review *As well as the late-night parties, alcohol and short-lived love affairs, we see a serious writer at work, determined to resist being pigeonholed * Spectator *Patricia Highsmith's diaries are something to behold, She is deliciously eccentric and droll, her romances always threaded with bitterness and lust -- Eva Wiseman * Observer *These secret diaries take us inside Patricia Highsmith's brilliant yet twisted mind . . . Here then, laid out for us, is the private life Highsmith transmuted into fiction, into those great novels in which innocence and guilt, good and evil meld into one another so alarmingly * Sunday Times *An unguarded portrait of a young woman taking the first tentative steps into the worlds of sex and literary endeavour . . . a capacious portrait of a complex author and a compelling coming-of-age story * Prospect Magazine *Offers insights into the thriller writer's many passions and creative intellect * Financial Times *Keep them beside the bed, dip into them each night. And read them you must. Magnificent * The Times *Highsmith likens herself to "a steel needle", and her insights puncture complacency as if piercing flesh. She is the murderer, and we are all the victims * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisPatricia Highsmith was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1921 but moved to New York when she was six. In her senior year she edited the college magazine, having decided to become a writer at the age of sixteen. Her first novel Strangers on a Train was made into a famous film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. Patricia Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland in 1995. Her last novel Small g: A Summer Idyll was published posthumously just over a month later.Trade ReviewIn Ripley Under Ground Patricia Highsmith is in her most brilliant form * Daily Telegraph *The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *Ripley Under Ground is Highsmith back on top of her most enjoyable humour-and-horrors form * Sunday Telegraph *By her hypnotic art Highsmith puts the suspense story into a toweringly high place in the hierachy of fiction * The Times *The Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable * The Times *

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Book SynopsisPenguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers'' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.The Talented Mr Ripley, a Level 6 Reader, is B1+ in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future continuous, reported questions, third conditional, was going to and ellipsis. A small number of illustrations support the text.In the 1950s, Tom Ripley travels from the United States of America to Italy, to find Dickie Greenleaf and bring him home to his father. But when Tom sees Dickie''s money and relaxed way of life, he becomes jealous and begins to make other plans.Visit the Penguin Readers websiteExclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

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Book SynopsisThe psychologists would call it folie a deux...'Bruno slammed his palms together. We meet on a train, see, and nobody knows we know each other! Catch?'' From this moment, almost against his conscious will, Guy Haines is trapped in a nightmare of shared guilt and an insidious merging of personalities.Trade ReviewA gem... A magnificent suspense * Daily Mail *A writer who created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger -- Graham GreeneA true original in crime fiction and a superb writer * The Times *

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Book SynopsisA beautiful, hardback edition of the iconic crime classic, now a MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES.Tom Ripley wants money, success, and the good life - and he''s willing to kill for it.Struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors, and the law, Ripley leaps at the chance to start afresh on a free trip to Europe. But when his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.This is the first in Highsmith''s classic series featuring the character of Tom Ripley. The Talented Mr Ripley inspired the Academy Award-winning film starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, and is now a major Netflix series starring Andrew Scott.''The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer'' The Times''Ripley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation'' Daily Telegraph*One of the BBC''s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.**As seen on Write Around the World with Rich

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Book SynopsisBY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN ''The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer'' THE TIMES'' I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is'' GILLIAN FLYNN ''Highsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes'' J. G. BALLARD, DAILY TELEGRAPHDavid Kelsey has an invincible conviction that life is going to work out just as he has planned it - if he can just fix ''the situation''. His one true love, the brilliant, beautiful Annabelle, has married another man. But that doesn''t mean they can''t still be friends. And even though she is pregnant with her husband Gerald''s baby, that surely doesn''t mean she won''t one day get back together with David. She still loves him, of that he is certain. David is sure she''ll take him back, and, under an alias, is setting up a wonderful home for the two of them in a town close by. Trade ReviewThe No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark BillinghamHighsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it -- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is -- Gillian FlynnFor eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith * Time *Terrific book, very wry humour, and a great unreliable narrator -- Sarah HilaryA writer who has created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger . . . Miss Highsmith is the poet of apprehension -- Graham GreeneA cracker . . . a compellingly creepy novel that foreshadowed much of what Highsmith would explore in The Talented Mr Ripley * Sydney Morning Herald *A writer who has created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger . . . Miss Highsmith is the poet of apprehension -- Graham GreeneHighsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense -- Mark Billingham'Highsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it' -- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisVic and Melinda Meller's loveless marriage is held together by an arrangement which allows Melinda to take any number of lovers as long as she does not desert her family. Eventually, Vic tries to win her back by asserting himself through a tall tale of murder - one that soon comes true.Trade Review"Highsmith is crime fiction's most lethal existentialist…[She] simultaneously makes the subconscious smile and the skin crawl." -- Ed Siegel - Boston Globe"So good and utterly addictive." -- Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me

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Book SynopsisAnthony Minghella is a dramatist and director whose best known plays have been published in two volu mes by Methuen. His films include TRULY, MADLY, DEEP and THE ENGLISH PATIENT. Patricia Highsmith wr ote a number of volumes about Tom Ripley; THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY is the first and best known novel i n this series. Anthony Minghella lives in London.

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