Patricia Highsmith eBooks
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist. She was born in 1921 in Texas, and moved to New York City in 1927. Her difficult relationship with her mother and stepfather was to inform some of Highsmith’s writing.
Highsmith studied English composition at Barnard College. After graduating, she worked for comic book publishers, both as a staff and freelance writer. While writing comics, she split her time between New York and Mexico.
In 1950, Highsmith’s first novel, Strangers on a Train, was published. Having been written during a time at the Yaddo writer’s colony in New York, it was a successful book. When it was adapted or film by Alfred Hitchcock the following year, Highsmith gained fame. A number of Highsmith’s other novels would also be adapted for film, including 1955’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.
The Price of Salt, her second novel, was a lesbian story published in 1952. Highsmith published it under a pseudonym and distanced herself from it until later in her life. Highsmith had drawn on her personal experiences for the book. Her tumultuous relationships with both women and men were documented in her diaries and correspondence.
Highsmith continued to write until her death in 1995, with her 22nd novel, Small g: a Summer Idyll, published posthumously. She also published seven short story collections, with an eighth published posthumously. Her writing was highly praised, and she had been nominated and awarded a number of honors.
