Description

Book Synopsis

BY 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 waiting

Trade Review
Bears 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

The Glass Cell A Virago Modern Classic Virago

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    £9.49

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    RRP £9.99 – you save £0.50 (5%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Wed 29 Jul 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Patricia Highsmith, Joan Schenkar

    2 in stock

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      View other formats and editions of The Glass Cell A Virago Modern Classic Virago by Patricia Highsmith

      Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 06/11/2014
      ISBN13: 9780349004952, 978-0349004952
      ISBN10: 0349004951

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      BY 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 waiting

      Trade Review
      Bears 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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