Editing Patricia Highsmith

{{Short description|American novelist and short story writer (1921–1995)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Patricia Highsmith
| image            = Patricia-Highsmith-1962.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| caption          = Highsmith in 1962
| pseudonym        = Claire Morgan (1952)
| birth_name       = Mary Patricia Plangman
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1921|1|19}}
| birth_place      = [[Fort Worth, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1995|2|4|1921|1|19}}
| death_place      = [[Locarno]], [[Ticino]], Switzerland
| occupation       = [[Novelist]], [[short story writer]]
| language         = English
| education        = [[Julia Richman High School]]
| alma_mater       = [[Barnard College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| period           = 1942–1995
| genre            = [[Thriller (genre)#Suspense|Suspense]], [[psychological thriller]], [[crime fiction]], [[Romance novel|romance]]
| movement         = [[Modernist literature]]
| notableworks     = {{plainlist|
*''[[Strangers on a Train (novel)|Strangers on a Train]]''
*''[[The Price of Salt]]'' (a.k.a. ''Carol'')
*''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley]]''
*''[[The Cry of the Owl]]''
*''[[The Tremor of Forgery]]''
}}
| awards           = 
| signature        = Patricia highsmith sig.svg
}}
<!-- EDITORS: add citations with Wikipedia templates: cite web | cite news | cite book | cite journal. Use automatic templates in formatting bar located under "Cite" button. -->

'''Patricia Highsmith''' (born '''Mary Patricia Plangman'''; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995)<ref>{{cite web|title=Mary P Highsmith|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMGS-2TB|website=[[FamilySearch]]|publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (From the United States [[Social Security Administration]] [[Death Master File]])}}</ref> was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her [[psychological thrillers]], including her series of five novels featuring the character [[Tom Ripley]]. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories in a career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing was influenced by [[existentialist]] literature,<ref name=shore2000>{{cite news|last1=Shore|first1=Robert|title=The talented Ms Highsmith|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jan/28/crimebooks|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=January 7, 2000|access-date=March 29, 2017}}</ref> and questioned notions of [[personal identity|identity]] and popular [[morality]].<ref name="Wilson-Telegraph">{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Andrew |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3595207/Ripleys-enduring-allure.html |title=Ripley's enduring allure |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=May 24, 2003 |access-date=October 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007102041/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3595207/Ripleys-enduring-allure.html |archive-date=October 7, 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> She was dubbed "the poet of [[anxiety|apprehension]]" by novelist [[Graham Greene]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Highsmith|first1=Patricia|title=Eleven|date=1970|publisher=William Heinemann Ltd.|isbn=0-434-33510-X|page=xi|edition=1st|chapter=Foreword}}</ref>

Born in [[Fort Worth]], Texas, and mostly raised in her infancy by her maternal grandmother, Highsmith was taken to New York City at the age of six to live with her mother and stepfather. After graduating college in 1942, she worked as a writer for comic books while writing her own short stories and novels in her spare time. Her literary breakthrough came with the publication of her first novel ''[[Strangers on a Train (novel)|Strangers on a Train]]'' (1950) which was adapted into a [[Strangers on a Train (film)|1951 film]] directed by [[Alfred Hitchcock]]. Her 1955 novel ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' was well received in the United States and Europe, cementing her reputation as a major writer of psychological thrillers.

In 1963, Highsmith moved to England where her critical reputation continued to grow. Following the breakdown of her relationship with a married Englishwoman, she moved to France in 1967 to try to rebuild her life. Her sales were now higher in Europe than in the United States which her agent attributed to her subversion of the conventions of American crime fiction. She moved to Switzerland in 1982 where she continued to publish new work that increasingly divided critics. The last years of her life were marked by ill health and she died of [[aplastic anemia]] and [[lung cancer]] in Switzerland in 1995.

''[[The Times]]'' said of Highsmith: "she puts the suspense story in a toweringly high place in the hierarchy of fiction."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=180}} Her second novel, ''[[The Price of Salt]],'' published under a pseudonym in 1952, was ground breaking for its positive depiction of lesbian relationships and optimistic ending.<ref name="Meaker2003" />'''{{Rp|page=1}}'''<ref name="talbot" /> She remains controversial for her antisemitic, racist and misanthropic statements.<ref name="Brooks17Jan2" />

==Early life==
Highsmith was born Mary Patricia Plangman in [[Fort Worth, Texas]] on January 19, 1921. She was the only child of commercial artists Jay Bernard Plangman (1889–1975) and Mary Plangman (''[[Given name#Nee|née]]'' Coates; September 13, 1895 – March 12, 1991). Her father had not wanted a child and had persuaded her mother to have an abortion. Her mother, after a failed attempt to [[Abortion|abort]] her by drinking [[turpentine]], decided to leave Plangman. The couple divorced nine days before their daughter's birth.<ref name="Schenkar2009">{{cite book |last1=Schenkar |first1=Joan |url=https://archive.org/details/talentedmisshigh0000sche |title=The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith |date=2009 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=978-0312303754 |edition=1st |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=63–64}}

In 1927 Highsmith moved to New York City to live with her mother and her stepfather, commercial artist Stanley Highsmith, whom her mother had married in 1924.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=565}} Patricia excelled at school and read widely, including works by [[Jack London]], [[Louisa May Alcott]], [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], [[Bram Stoker]], and [[John Ruskin]].<ref name="Wilson2003">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |title=Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2003 |isbn=1582341982 |location=New York and London}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=33–42}}  At the age of nine, she became fascinated by the case histories of abnormal psychology in ''The Human Mind'' by [[Karl Menninger]], a popularizer of [[Freudian]] analysis.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=92}}

In the summer of 1933, Highsmith attended a girls' camp and the letters she wrote home were published as a story two years later in ''Woman's World'' magazine. She received $25 for the story.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=44, 55}} After returning from camp, she was sent to Fort Worth and lived with her maternal grandmother for a year.<ref name="von Planta2021">{{cite book|editor1-last=von Planta |editor1-first=Anna |title=Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941–1995 |date=2021 |edition=1st |page=2 |publisher=[[Liveright Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1324090991 |chapter=1921–1940: The Early Years |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20MfEAAAQBAJ&dq=Patricia+Highsmith:+Her+Diaries+and+Notebooks,+1941%E2%80%931995&pg=PT14}}</ref> She called this the "saddest year" of her life and felt "abandoned" by her mother. In 1934 she returned to New York to live with her mother and stepfather in [[Greenwich Village]], Manhattan.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=565–566}} She was unhappy at home. She hated her stepfather and developed a life-long love–hate relationship with her mother, which she later fictionalized in stories such as "[[The Terrapin]]", about a young boy who stabs his mother to death.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=55}}<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=|pages=64, 84, 100–102}}

She attended the all-girl [[Julia Richman High School]] where she achieved a B minus average grade.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=112}} She continued to read widely{{Mdash}}[[Edgar Allan Poe]] was a favorite{{Mdash}}and began writing short stories and a journal. Her story "Primroses Are Pink" was published in the school literary magazine.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=49–58}}

In 1938 Highsmith entered [[Barnard College]] where her studies included English literature, playwriting and short story composition. Fellow students considered her a loner who guarded her privacy but she formed a life-long friendship with fellow student Kate Kingsley Skattebol. She continued to read voraciously, kept diaries and notebooks, and developed an interest in [[eastern philosophy]], [[Marx]] and [[Freud]]. She also read [[Thomas Wolfe]], [[Marcel Proust]] and [[Julien Green]] with admiration. She published nine stories in the college literary magazine and became its editor in her senior year.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=63–73, 90–92}}

== Apprentice writer ==
After graduating in 1942, Highsmith, despite endorsements from "highly placed professionals," applied without success for a job at publications such as ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', ''[[Mademoiselle (magazine)|Mademoiselle]]'', ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'', and ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=130}} She eventually found work with FFF Publishers which provided copy for various Jewish publications. The job, which paid $20 per week, lasted only six months but gave her experience in researching stories.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=93–94}}

In December 1942 Highsmith found employment with comic book publisher [[Benjamin W. Sangor|Sangor]]–[[Standard Comics|Pines]] where she earned up to $50 per week. She wrote "Sergeant Bill King" stories, contributed to [[Black Terror]] and [[Fighting Yank]] comics, and wrote profiles such as [[Catherine the Great]], [[Barney Ross]], and [[Eddie Rickenbacker|Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker]] for the "Real Life Comics" series. After a year, she realized she could make more money and have more flexibility for travel and serious writing by working [[freelance]] for comics and she did so until 1949. From 1943 to 1946, under editor [[Vincent Fago]] at [[Timely Comics]], she contributed to its ''[[U.S.A. Comics]]'' wartime series, writing scenarios for characters such as [[All Select Comics|"Jap Buster Johnson"]] and [[Destroyer (Marvel Comics)|The Destroyer]]. For [[Fawcett Publications]] she scripted characters including "Crisco and Jasper." She also wrote for ''[[True Comics]]'', ''[[Captain Midnight#Comic book|Captain Midnight]]'' and ''[[Western Comics]]''. Working for comics was the only long-term job Highsmith ever held.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=27–28, 151–155, 167–175}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schenkar |first1=Joan |date=December 2009 |title=Patricia Highsmith & The Golden Age Of American Comics |url=https://issuu.com/twomorrows/docs/alterego90preview |journal=[[Alter Ego (magazine)|Alter Ego]] |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |volume=3 |issue=90 |pages=35–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Raskin |first1=Jonah |date=2009 |title=The Talented Patricia Highsmith |url=https://web.sonoma.edu/users/r/raskin/article_Highsmith.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013211813/https://web.sonoma.edu/users/r/raskin/article_Highsmith.htm |archive-date=October 13, 2018 |access-date=October 13, 2018 |website=web.sonoma.edu}} (The article was published originally in ''The Redwood Coast Review''.)</ref>

Highsmith considered comics boring "hack work" and was determined to become a novelist. In the evenings she wrote short stories which she submitted, unsuccessfully, to publications such as ''The New Yorker.'' In 1944 she spent five months in Mexico where she worked on an unfinished novel "The Click of the Shutting".  On her return to Manhattan she worked on another unfinished novel "The Dove Descending".<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=96, 102–111}}

The following year, "The Heroine," a story about a pyromaniac nanny that she had written in 1941, was published by ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]''. The publishers [[Knopf]] wrote her that they were interested in publishing any novels she might have. Nothing, however, came from their subsequent meeting. Highsmith's agents advised her that her stories needed to be more "upbeat" to be marketable but she wanted to write stories that reflected her vision of the world.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=119–120}}

In 1946, Highsmith read [[Albert Camus]]' ''[[The Stranger (Camus novel)|The Stranger]]'' and was impressed by his absurdist vision. The following year she commenced writing ''Strangers on a Train'', and her new agent submitted an early draft to a publisher's reader who recommended major revisions. Based on the recommendation of [[Truman Capote]], Highsmith was accepted by the [[Yaddo]] artist's retreat during the summer of 1948, where she worked on the novel.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=122–125, 137–143}}

''Strangers on a Train'' was accepted for publication by [[Harper & Brothers]] in May 1949. The following month, Highsmith sailed to Europe where she spent three months in England, France and Italy. In Italy, she visited [[Positano]] which would later become the major setting for her novel ''The Talented Mr. Ripley''. She read an anthology of [[Kierkegaard]] on the trip and declared him her new "master".<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=155–159}}

== Established writer ==
Highsmith returned to New York in October 1949 and began writing ''The Price of Salt'', a novel about a lesbian relationship. ''Strangers on a Train'' was published in March 1950 and received favorable reviews in ''The'' ''New Yorker'', ''New York Herald Tribune'' and ''New York Times.''  The novel was shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Prize and Alfred Hitchcock secured the film rights for $6,000. Sales increased after the release of the film.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=59–60, 84–85}}

In February 1951, she left for Europe for the publication of the novel in England and France. She stayed for two years, traveling and working on an unfinished novel, "The Traffic of Jacob's Ladder," which is now lost.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=168–170, 173–183}} She wrote Skattebol, "I can imagine living mostly in Europe the rest of my life."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=149}}[[File:I Patricia Highsmith House, NYC, NY.jpg|thumb|170px|345 E. 57th Street, NYC – Residence of Patricia Highsmith]]

Highsmith was back in New York in May 1953. ''The Price of Salt'' had been published in hardback under a pseudonym the previous May, and sold well in paperback in 1953. It was praised in the ''New York Times Book Review'' for "sincerity and good taste" but the reviewer found the characters underdeveloped. The novel made Highsmith a respected figure in the New York lesbian community, but as she did not publicly acknowledge authorship, it did not further her literary reputation.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=172}}<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=128}}

In September 1953, Highsmith traveled to Fort Worth where she completed a fair copy of ''The Blunderer'' which was published the following year. In 1954 she worked on a new novel, ''The Talented Mr. Ripley,'' about a young American who kills a rich compatriot in Italy and assumes his identity. She completed the novel in six months in [[Lenox, Massachusetts|Lenox]], [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], and Mexico.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=189–194, 197–198}}

''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' was published in December 1955 to favorable reviews in the ''New York Times Book Review'' and ''The New Yorker'', their critics praising Highsmith's convincing portrait of a psychopath.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=351}}<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=118}} The novel went on to win the Edgar Allan Poe Scroll of the Mystery Writers of America.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=198–199}}Highsmith biographer Richard Bradford states that the novel "forged the basis for her long term reputation as a writer."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=110}}

Highsmith moved to the affluent hamlet of [[Palisades, New York|Palisades]], New York State, in 1956 and lived there for over two years. In March 1957, her story "A Perfect Alibi" was published in ''[[Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine]],'' beginning a long-term association with the publication.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=206}}She also completed two further novels, ''Deep Water'' (published in 1957) and ''A Game for the Living'' (1958), and a children's book, ''Miranda the Panda is on the Veranda'' (1958), that she co-authored with Doris Sanders.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=118–125}}

In December 1958, Highsmith moved back to Manhattan where she wrote ''[[This Sweet Sickness]]''. The novel was published in February 1960 to generally favorable reviews. From September 1960, she lived near [[New Hope, Pennsylvania|New Hope]], Pennsylvania. There she saw René Clement's ''[[Plein Soleil]]'' (1960), the French film adaptation of ''The Talented Mr. Ripley,''  but she was disappointed by its moralistic ending.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=224}} She also wrote ''[[The Cry of the Owl]]'' which she completed in February 1962.  Although Highsmith considered it one of her worst novels, novelist [[Brigid Brophy]] later rated it, along with ''[[Lolita]]'', as one of the best since World War II.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=216–217, 229–230, 236–240}}

Highsmith spent 1962 shuttling between New Hope and Europe and finishing the novel ''[[The Two Faces of January]]''. She had fallen in love with a married English woman and wanted to live closer to her. In February 1963, she moved permanently to Europe.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=136–143}}

== England and France ==
Highsmith rented an apartment in Positano where she worked on her prison novel ''The Glass Cell.'' She then traveled to London where she promoted ''The Cry of the Owl'', newly published in Britain. In November 1963 she moved to the festival town of [[Aldeburgh]], Suffolk, and the following year she bought a home in the nearby village of [[Earl Soham]] where she lived for three years.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=143–148}}

During this time, Highsmith's critical reputation in the United Kingdom grew. [[Francis Wyndham (writer)|Francis Wyndham]] wrote a long article on Highsmith for the ''[[New Statesman]]'' in 1963 which introduced her work to many readers.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=577}} Brigid Brophy, also writing in the ''New Statesman'', praised ''The Two Faces of January'' (1964) stating that Highsmith had made the crime story literature. Julian Simmons in ''The Sunday Times'' commended Highsmith's subtle characterization. The novel won the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers' Association for best foreign novel of 1964.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=231–232}}

Highsmith was quarreling with her mother and under severe emotional strain due to her difficult relationship with her English lover. She was drinking heavily and her private and public behavior was becoming more eccentric and antisocial. When her love affair ended in late 1966, she decided to move to France.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=150–157, 160–163, 166}}

After a brief visit to Tunisia, Highsmith moved to the [[Île-de-France]] in 1967 and eventually settled at [[Montmachoux]] in April 1968. Her novels of this period include ''The Tremor of Forgery'' (1969), which Graham Greene considered her finest work, and ''[[Ripley Under Ground]]'' (1970) which gained generally positive reviews. Her books, however, were selling poorly in America which her agent suggested was because they were "too subtle".'''<ref name="Bradford2021" />'''{{Rp|pages=166–182}}

In 1970, Highsmith flew to the United States where she visited New York and her family in Fort Worth. She drew on her trip for her novel ''[[A Dog's Ransom]]'' (1972) which is set in Manhattan. In November 1970 she moved to the village of [[Moncourt]], in the [[Moselle (department)|Moselle region]] of France. The novels she wrote there include ''[[Ripley's Game]]'' (1974), ''[[Edith's Diary]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Boy Who Followed Ripley]]'' (1980).<ref name="Bradford2021" />'''{{Rp|pages=183–188, 194–206}}''' In 1977, she saw Wim Wenders' ''[[The American Friend]]'', a loose adaptation of ''Ripley's Game.'' She praised the film but was displeased with Dennis Hopper as Ripley.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=360–362}} The following year, she was elected chairman of the jury for the [[Berlin Film Festival]].<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=584}}

In 1980 Highsmith underwent bypass surgery to correct uncontrolled bleeding and serious cardiovascular problems. Soon after, the French authorities fined her for taxation irregularities, prompting her to comment, "How appropriate, to be bleeding in two places." Disillusioned with France, she bought a house in [[Aurigeno]], Switzerland and in 1982 moved there permanently.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=216–218}}

== Switzerland and final years ==
[[File:Highsmith on After Dark.JPG|245px|right|thumb|Highsmith [[After Dark (TV series)#Patricia Highsmith|discussing murder]] on British television programme ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]'' (June 1988)]]
In 1981, Highsmith moved into her Swiss home and began writing a new novel, ''[[People Who Knock on the Door|People who Knock on the Door]]'' (1983), about the influence of Christian fundamentalism in America. This, and her following novel, ''[[Found in the Street]]'' (1986)'','' were partly based on a research trip to America in early 1981.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=220–223}} Her biographer [[Joan Schenkar]] states that by this time Highsmith had been living in Europe so long she "began to make errors of American fact and understanding in her novels." Highsmith described ''People who Knock on the Door'' as "a flat book, but popular in France, Germany and E[ast] Germany."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=450–451, 463}}

In 1986, Highsmith had a successful operation for lung cancer. Shortly after, she commissioned a new home in [[Tegna, Switzerland|Tegna]], Switzerland. The home was in the brutalist style and her friends called it "the bunker." There she completed her last two novels, ''Ripley Under Water'' (1991) and ''[[Small g: a Summer Idyll|Small g: A Summer Idyll]]'' (1995). In 1990 she was made an Officer of the [[Order of Arts and Letters]] of France.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=589}} In 1993 her health deteriorated and she required the help of a home carer.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=238–243}}

Highsmith died on February 4, 1995, at 74, from [[aplastic anemia]] and [[lung cancer]] at Carita Hospital in [[Locarno]], Switzerland, near Tegna. She was cremated at the cemetery in [[Bellinzona]]; a memorial service was conducted in the Chiesa di Tegna in Tegna and her ashes were interred in its [[columbarium]].<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=590}}<ref name="hodgson">{{cite news |last1=Hodgson |first1=Godfrey |date=February 6, 1995 |title=Obituary: Patricia Highsmith |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-patricia-highsmith-1571740.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029064931/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-patricia-highsmith-1571740.html |archive-date=October 29, 2015 |access-date=March 16, 2017 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dupont |first=Joan |date=September 9, 1997 |title=A Writer's Legacy: Little Tales of Cats and Snails |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/09/style/09iht-smith.t.html |access-date=April 7, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Randy |date=February 5, 1995 |title=Patricia Highsmith, Writer Of Crime Tales, Dies at 74 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/05/obituaries/patricia-highsmith-writer-of-crime-tales-dies-at-74.html |access-date=April 7, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

She left her [[Estate (law)|estate]], worth an estimated $3 million, and the promise of any future royalties, to the [[Yaddo]] colony, where she spent two months in 1948 writing the draft of ''Strangers on a Train''.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=139}}{{efn|During her lifetime, Highsmith supported Yaddo with contributions she preferred to keep anonymous. One of these gifts created an endowed fund to underwrite an annual residency for a young creative artist working in any medium. At her request the residency is now known as the "Patricia Highsmith-Plangman Residency".<ref>{{Cite FTP |title=Yaddo Shadow|url=ftp://ftp.yaddo.org/Yaddo/newsletter-spring2004.pdf|access-date=March 13, 2016|date=Spring 2004|server=[[Yaddo]]|url-status=dead|pages=14–17}}</ref>}} Highsmith bequeathed her [[literary estate]] to the [[Swiss Literary Archives]] at the [[Swiss National Library]] in Bern, Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Swiss Literary Archives |date=March 7, 2006 |title=Patricia Highsmith at the Swiss National Library |url=https://www.news.admin.ch/en/nsb?id=3558 |access-date=March 13, 2016 |website=Swiss National Library |publisher=Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek}}</ref> Her Swiss publisher, [[Diogenes Verlag]], which had principal rights to her work, was appointed literary executor of the estate.<ref name="bolonik">{{cite magazine |last1=Bolonik |first1=Kera |date=November 20, 2003 |title=Murder, She Wrote |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/murder-she-wrote/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116235015/https://www.thenation.com/article/murder-she-wrote/ |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |access-date=March 15, 2016 |magazine=[[The Nation]]}}</ref><ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=579}}

Her last novel, ''Small g: a Summer Idyll'', was rejected by Knopf (her most recent American publisher) several months before her death.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=243}} It was published posthumously in the United Kingdom by [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] in March 1995,<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=King |first1=Francis |date=March 18, 1995 |title=Perverse and foolish |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/18th-march-1995/34/perverse-and-foolish |access-date=June 13, 2017 |magazine=[[The Spectator]]}}</ref> and nine years later in the United States by [[W. W. Norton]].<ref name="leavitt">{{cite news |last1=Leavitt |first1=David |date=June 20, 2004 |title=Strangers in a Bar |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/books/strangers-in-a-bar.html |access-date=November 27, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The novel sold 50,000 copies in France within six weeks of her death.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=243}}

Highsmith's literary estate included eight thousand pages of handwritten notebooks and diaries.<ref name="Schenkar-ParisR">{{cite magazine |last1=Schenkar |first1=Joan |date=September 29, 2011 |title=After Patricia |url=http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/12/29/after-patricia/ |access-date=October 6, 2015 |magazine=[[The Paris Review]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==

=== Health ===
Highsmith had [[anorexia]] as a teenager and episodes of [[Mood disorder|depression]] throughout her life.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=|pages=58, 116}} Despite literary success, she wrote in her diary of January 1970: "[I] am now cynical, fairly rich ... lonely, depressed, and totally pessimistic."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=462}} She was an alcoholic who by her middle age drank from breakfast until she went to bed at night. She smoked 40 Gauloises cigarettes a day and rarely ate fruit and vegetables. In 1973 her doctor advised her that if she did not change her lifestyle she might not live past 55.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=x, 197–198}}

Highsmith underwent surgery in May 1980 for blockages in two arteries of her right leg, and in April 1986 she had successful surgery for lung cancer (of a type not related to smoking). In January 1992 she had a procedure to widen her left femoral artery, and in September the following year she had surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor in her lower intestine. Later in 1993 she was diagnosed with the aplastic anemia and lung cancer that would kill her.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=379, 411–414, 446, 454–455}}

=== Personality ===
{{quote box
| align = left
| quote = To all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle—may they never give me peace.
| source = – Patricia Highsmith, "My New Year's Toast", journal entry, 1947<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schenkar|first1=Joan|title=The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith|date=2009|publisher=St. Martin's Press|edition=1st|chapter=The Cake That Was Shaped Like a Coffin: Part 8|page=[https://archive.org/details/talentedmisshigh0000sche/page/559 559]|isbn=978-0-312-30375-4|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/talentedmisshigh0000sche/page/559}}</ref>
| width = 22%
}} Highsmith was ambitious and socially active in the 1940s but always preferred smaller gatherings to large crowds and public functions. Despite her reputation as a recluse in her later years, she had a circle of friends, neighbors and admirers who she regularly saw in France and Switzerland, and she frequently corresponded with friends in Europe and America.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=8–9, 218–221}}

Highsmith's biographers, friends and acquaintances describe her public and private behavior, especially from the 1960s, as often eccentric, rude, difficult and antisocial. She brought her pet snails to one dinner party in the 1960s and let them wander over the mahogany.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=429}}At a dinner party in 1968 she deliberately lowered her head to a candle and set her hair on fire. She had two friends as house guests in 1971 and threw a dead rat into their room.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=286, 323–324}}  She often made racist or insensitive comments which offended and embarrassed those present. Those who knew her suggested that this behavior might have resulted from depression, alcoholism,<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=238–242}} Asperger's Syndrome<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=294}} or a personality disorder. A psychiatrist who observed her at a hotel in 1963 said to the owner, "You do realize you have a psychopath in the hall."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=|pages=224–225}}

Many who knew her said she could also be funny and good company, but difficult. Her oldest friend, Kate Skattebol, said that at college she was "fun to be with and her sense of humour was great. She loved to shock people."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=75}} British journalist Francis Wyndham, who met her in 1963, said, "I liked her immediately...I could tell that she was shy and reticent, a woman with deep feelings, someone who was affectionate but also difficult."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=247}} Gary Fisketjon, her American editor in the 1980s, said,  "She was very rough, very difficult ... But she was also plainspoken, dryly funny, and great fun to be around."<ref name="Fierman20002">{{cite magazine |last1=Fierman |first1=Daniel |date=January 14, 2000 |title=Mystery Girl: Deceased mistress of suspense Patricia Highsmith is finding new fans with The Talented Mr. Ripley |url=https://www.ew.com/article/2000/01/14/mystery-girl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124144207/http://www.ew.com/article/2000/01/14/mystery-girl |archive-date=November 24, 2015 |access-date=October 6, 2015 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref>

Highsmith lived alone for most of her adult life, stating in a 1991 interview, "I choose to live alone because my imagination functions better when I don't have to speak with people."<ref name="Guinard19912">{{cite news |last1=Guinard |first1=Mavis |date=August 17, 1991 |title=Patricia Highsmith: Alone With Ripley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/17/style/17iht-high.html |access-date=October 6, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Although she preferred her personal life to remain private, she took no steps to avoid the posthumous availability of her diaries and notebooks in which she recorded the motivations of her behavior.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=3–7}}

=== Interests ===
Highsmith began keeping snails as pets in 1946 or 1949 as she was fascinated by their sexuality. Pet snails appear in her 1957 novel ''Deep Water,'' and her story "The Snail Watcher"  is about pet snails who kill their owner. She kept 300 snails at her home in Earl Soham and occasionally took some with her on social outings. She said that when she moved to France she smuggled her snails into the country in her bra. Schenkar, however, believes this is only an amusing story and that she smuggled her snails in cottage cheese cartons.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=23, 251, 570}}

Her other hobbies included woodworking,<ref name="Schenkar2009" /> painting and gardening. Diogenes Verlag published a book of her drawings in 1995.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=46, 113–114, 375}}She was an accomplished gardener, but in her later years her friends and neighbors did most of the work on her gardens.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=286, 375, 437, 455}}

===Sexuality===
Highsmith's sexual relationships were predominantly with women.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=x, 57}} She occasionally engaged in sex with men without physical desire for them, writing in her diary in 1948: "The male face doesn't attract me, isn't ''beautiful'' to me."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=257}} In a 1970 letter to her stepfather, Highsmith described sex with men as like "steel wool in the face, a sensation of being raped in the wrong place—leading to a sensation of having to have, pretty soon, a boewl{{Sic|}} movement."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=148}} [[Phyllis Nagy]] described Highsmith as "a lesbian who did not very much enjoy being around other women" and her few affairs with men occurred just to "see if she could be into men in that way because she so much more preferred their company."<ref name="gross2women2">{{cite web |last=Gross |first=Terry |date=January 6, 2016 |title=In 'Carol,' 2 Women Leap Into An Unlikely Love Affair |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=462089856 |access-date=March 13, 2017 |website=[[Fresh Air]] |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

Highsmith called herself "basically polygamous"<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=166}} and was consistently unfaithful to her lovers.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=29}} She noted in her 1949 diary that she couldn't sustain any relationship for more than two to three years. In 1943 she wrote, "there is something perverted within me, that I don't love a girl anymore if she loves me more than I love her."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=102, 158}} According to biographer [[Andrew Wilson (author)|Andrew Wilson]], "She would be forever prone to falling in love but always happiest when alone."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=89}}

Highsmith held varying views about her sexuality throughout her life. In 1942 she wrote that lesbians were inferior to homosexual men because they never sought their equals.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=99}} Later she told author [[Marijane Meaker]]: "the only difference between us and heterosexuals is what we do in bed."<ref name="Meaker2003">{{cite book|last1=Meaker |first1=Marijane |title=Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s |date=2003 |edition=1st |publisher=Cleis Press |location=San Francisco|isbn=1-57344-171-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/highsmithromance0000meak/}}</ref>{{Rp|page=24}} In 1970 she wrote to a friend: "We all become reconciled to being queer and prefer life that way."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=307}}

Highsmith refused to speak publicly about her sexuality, repeatedly telling interviewers: "I don't answer personal questions about myself or other people."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=xiv}}<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=396–397}} When she finally agreed, in 1990, to have ''The Price of Salt'' republished under her own name as ''Carol'' she was still reluctant to discuss her sexuality.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=3, 441–442}} In 1978, however, she wrote a friend that after her death a future biographer must discuss her love life and "everyone must know I am queer or gay."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=9}}

=== Relationships ===
Schenkar calls Highsmith's mother, Mary: "the great love of Pat Highsmith's life{{Mdash}}and, certainly, her greatest hate."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=64}} In 1967 Highsmith wrote: "I adored my mother, and could see no wrong in her, until I was near 17."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=18}} Nevertheless,  Highsmith felt her mother had abandoned her at the age of 12, when she had left her in Fort Worth so she could attempt a reconciliation with Stanley Highsmith in New York. She later blamed her mother for her failed relationships, writing: "I never got over it. Thus I seek out women who will hurt me in a similar manner, and avoid the women who are{{Emdash}}good eggs."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=48}} Highsmith also blamed her mother for her introverted personality, stating that when she was 14 her mother had asked her whether she was a lesbian in a way that made her feel "like a cripple on the street."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=52}}

Relations between the two women were often difficult.'''<ref name="Schenkar2009" />'''{{Rp|page=18}} When Highsmith's mother stayed with her in England for six days in 1965 it ended in a physical altercation and Highsmith had to call her doctor, who sedated both women. Highsmith blamed her tense adult relationship with her mother on Mary's jealousy over her female friends and lovers.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=83, 262–264}} Her mother broke off relations with Highsmith by letter in 1974, and lived in a nursing home from 1975 until her death in 1991. During this time, Highsmith and her mother had no communication with each other.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=337, 343}}

Bradford argues that Highsmith's love life represented a combination of romantic fantasies and a desire for social advancement: "[T]hroughout her life, Highsmith looked for women whom she could worship."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=81–101}}Her partner Ellen Hill told her she was only in love with fantasy figures: "She [Hill] says, I fit the person to my wishes, find they don't fit, and proceed to break it off."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=291}} According to Bradford, until her middle age: "She only truly desired women who came from the kind of social, cultural and intellectual ranking to which she aspired. More significantly, she seemed particularly attracted to women who had been born into privilege."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=81–82}}

In 1941 Highsmith met Rosalind Constable, a 34-year-old British journalist and literary consultant. Wilson describes Constable as "blond," "elegant" and a "cultured sophisticate."'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=81–82}}''' Highsmith fell in love with Constable but the relationship was not sexual. Constable promoted her career, giving her introductions to cultural figures and later recommending her to the Yaddo community.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=92–93, 137}}'''

In 1943 Highsmith had a brief affair with artist Allela Cornell who killed herself three years later over another failed relationship. Highsmith, nevertheless, felt guilty over her death and prominently displayed Cornell's oil portrait of her in all her homes. Cornell was the inspiration for the artist Derwatt in ''Ripley Under Ground''.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=101, 133, 263}}

Highsmith began a year-long affair with the rich socialite Virginia Kent Catherwood in June 1946. Catherwood was one of the models  for Carol Aird in ''The Price of Salt.''<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=131–133}}<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=283–284}}{{efn|The character of Carol Aird and much of the plot of ''The Price of Salt'' was inspired by Highsmith's former lovers Kathryn Hamill Cohen and Philadelphia socialite Virginia Kent Catherwood,<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=132, 161}}<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=282–289}} and her relationships with them.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=132, 161}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Jordan|first1=Louis|title=Carol's Happy Ending|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2015/11/carol_screenwriter_phyllis_nagy_friend_of_patricia_highsmith_worked_for.html|magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|publisher=The Slate Group|date=November 19, 2015|access-date=February 27, 2017}}</ref>  Catherwood lost [[Child custody|custody]] of her daughter in divorce proceedings that involved tape-recorded lesbian trysts in hotel rooms.<ref name=talbot />}}

During her stay at Yaddo in 1948, Highsmith met writer Marc Brandel, son of author [[J. D. Beresford]]. Even though she told him about her homosexuality, they soon entered into a relationship. In November Highsmith underwent six months of psychoanalysis in an effort "to regularize herself sexually"<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=261–262}}  so she could marry him. They became engaged in May 1949, just before her first trip to Europe. Their relationship ended in the fall of 1950.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=143–170}}

Highsmith and Brandel had other sexual partners during their relationship. In 1948 she started an intermittent relationship with  Ann Smith, a painter and designer. The relationship ended in 1950 but the two remained friends.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=144–147, 169}} While in Europe in 1949, Highsmith had an affair with psychoanalyst Kathryn Hamill Cohen, the wife of British publisher Dennis Cohen and founder of [[Cresset Press]], which later published ''Strangers on a Train''. Kathryn ended the affair by letter in April 1950.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=155–158, 166}}

To help pay for her therapy sessions, Highsmith had taken a sales job in December 1948 in the toy section of [[Bloomingdale's]] department store. One day she served an elegant blonde woman in a mink coat who left her delivery details. Her name was Kathleen Senn and the encounter inspired Highsmith to begin writing ''The Price of Salt''. She twice went to Senn's home to secretly observe her and, although they never met, Highsmith wrote that Senn "almost made me love her."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=1–2, 151–152}}

While in Munich In September 1951, Highsmith met the German sociologist Ellen Hill who, according to Schenkar, "had the longest, strongest influence on Pat's life (after mother Mary).".<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=291}} They lived and traveled together in Europe and America until July 1953 when Hill attempted suicide after Highsmith threatened to end their relationship. They resumed their relationship in September 1954 and it lasted until December 1955. They established a difficult friendship after this, which endured until Highsmith broke with her in 1988.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=177–185, 191–203}}<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=572–574}}

In March 1956, Highsmith began a relationship with Doris Sanders, an advertising illustrator and copywriter. They lived together in Palisades, New York State, and traveled to Mexico where Highsmith set her novel ''A Game for the Living''. Highsmith left Sanders in December 1958 after initiating an affair with another woman.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=118–127}}

In the spring of 1959, Highsmith met writer Marijane Meaker. They began a relationship and when Highsmith returned from a publicity tour of Europe in 1960 they lived together near New Hope, Pennsylvania. The relationship was stormy and after six months Highsmith moved to another house in New Hope. When their relationship collapsed in 1961, Meaker included a character based on Highsmith in her novel ''Intimate Victims'' (1962). Highsmith did likewise in her novel ''The Cry of the Owl''.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=360–368}}<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=227–239}}

While in Europe in the summer of 1962, Highsmith met an Englishwoman who was married to a wealthy businessman and who had a child. Highsmith had an affair with the woman and fell in love.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=242–243}} Highsmith's Swiss editor, Anna von Planta, calls the anonymous Englishwoman the "love of her life".<ref name="von Planta2021" />{{Rp|pages=717}} Highsmith moved to England in 1963 to be closer to her lover and she eventually settled in Earl Soham, Suffolk in 1964. Her lover, whose husband knew of the affair, visited Highsmith on weekends and they had occasional holidays in Europe. When it became clear to Highsmith that the woman would not leave her husband for her, she became increasingly jealous of the time her lover spent with her family. Her lover, in turn, was jealous of the time Highsmith spent with former lovers including Ellen Hill. The affair ended in October 1966 and Highsmith called the breakup "the very worst time of my entire life."'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=264–270}}

After Highsmith moved to France in 1967 she had several affairs with women who were 20 to 30 years younger. After her permanent move to Switzerland in 1982 she remained celibate for the rest of her life.<ref name="Bradford2021" />'''{{Rp|pages=174, 207–213, 225}}'''

==Views==
===Politics===
Highsmith was radicalized by the [[Spanish Civil War]] and joined the [[Young Communist League USA|Young Communist League]] while at Barnard in 1939. She left the party in November 1941.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=68–70}} Over the following decades, she displayed a consistent opposition to war and big business and a concern for environmental issues.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|page=374}} She was a swing voter, voting for the Democrat [[Walter Mondale 1984 presidential campaign|Walter Mondale]] in 1984,'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|page=406}} Republican [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]] senior in 1988, and independent [[Ross Perot 1992 presidential campaign|Ross Perot]] in 1992.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=543}} She described herself as a [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] or [[social democrat]] but admired Margaret Thatcher because of her policy of tax cuts and wrote that she would not sacrifice any of her money to help the poor. She believed that people were responsible for their destiny and that society was not to blame for the problems of individuals.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=357, 374}}

Highsmith supported [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] self-determination. As a member of [[Amnesty International]], she felt duty-bound to express publicly her opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{rp|429}} Highsmith prohibited her books from being published in Israel after the election of [[Menachem Begin]] as prime minister in 1977.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{rp|431}} She dedicated her 1983 novel ''[[People Who Knock on the Door]]'' to the Palestinian people:<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{rp|418}}

{{Blockquote|To the courage of the Palestinian people and their leaders in the struggle to regain a part of their homeland. This book has nothing to do with their problem.}}

Highsmith donated money to the Jewish Committee on the Middle East, an organization that represented American Jews who supported Palestinian self-determination.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{rp|430}} She wrote in an August 1993 letter to Meaker: "USA could save 11 million per day if they would cut the dough to Israel. The Jewish vote is 1%."<ref name="Meaker2003" />{{Rp|page=205}}

Although Highsmith was an active supporter of [[Palestinian]] rights, according to Nagy, her expression of this "often teetered into outright antisemitism."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nagy |first1=Phyllis |date=November 29, 2015 |title=Scotch, beer and cigarettes: my weekend with Patricia Highsmith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/29/my-weekend-at-patricia-highsmith-home-writer |access-date=March 28, 2017 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

Highsmith was an avowed [[antisemite]]; she described herself as a "Jew hater" and described [[The Holocaust]] as "the semicaust" and "Holocaust, Inc."<ref name="Brooks17Jan2">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Richard |date=January 17, 2021 |title=Patricia Highsmith: the 'Jew-hater' who took Jewish women as lovers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/17/patricia-highsmith-the-jew-hater-who-took-jewish-women-as-lovers |access-date=January 17, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=25}} When she was living in Switzerland in the 1980s, she used nearly 40 aliases when writing to government bodies and newspapers deploring the Israeli state and the influence of the Jews.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=39, 587}}

Highsmith also expressed racist and prejudiced views about other social groups, including black Americans. She believed that black people were responsible for a welfare crisis in America and spoke of their "animal-like breeding habits".<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{rp|19}}<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=xi–xii}} Skattebol called her: "An equal opportunity offender...You name the group, she hated them."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=xi–xii}}

=== Women ===
Highsmith was called a misogynist by some critics and some of those who knew her. In 1942 she wrote: "A woman's stupidity, absence of imagination, her childlike, retarded cruelty, cannot be equalled in the animal kingdom. Men's energies are naturally more constructive and healthy."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=300}} Wilson argues that Highsmith was a misanthrope rather than a misogynist. In 1969, she said she was becoming "increasingly misanthropic."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=300–303}}

In 1984 she said she had suffered no injustices because of her sex and that she disliked feminists because they were always "whining, always complaining about something. Instead of doing something."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=450–452}} However, in a 1992 interview she stated: "I can be in favour of women's causes, but I don't join them. If it's a matter of donating a little money, or signing something, I might, but not extra work."<ref name=":11">{{cite web |last1=Attallah |first1=Naim |date=May 27, 2010 |title=No Longer With Us: Patricia Highsmith |url=https://quartetbooks.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/no-longer-with-us-patricia-highsmith/ |access-date=June 9, 2017 |website=[[Naim Attallah|Naim Attallah Online]]}}</ref>

===Religion===
When young, Highsmith was influenced by the religious views of her mother, who was a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]]. She rejected Christian Science at the age of 21 but still retained a belief in God.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=556–56}} At 28 she wrote, "A certain calm is essential in order to live. Relief from anxiety. I myself can never have this without belief in the power of God which is greater than man and all the power in the universe."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=31}} She discussed God and Jesus frequently in her journals and sang in a church choir up to the age of 37.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=30–31}} In 1977 she declared that she no longer believed in God either as an abstract power or as a divine presence within the human soul.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|page=364}} In 1985 she said she disliked "people who believe that some god or other really has control over everything but is not exercising that control just now."'''<ref name="Schenkar2009" />'''{{Rp|page=587}}Bruno Sager, who was her home carer in 1993, discussed religion with her and said, "[She] was one of these persons searching for some kind of god or soul but she never could stand the cages of Catholicism or any of the other religions. She was not an atheist, not at all."'''<ref name="Schenkar2009" />'''{{Rp|page=550}}

===Animals===
Highsmith was outraged at human cruelty to animals, such as battery chicken farming. Her story collection ''The Animal Lovers Book of Beastly Murder'' (1975) features mistreated animals that take revenge on humans. Skatterbol says that Highsmith saw animals as "individual personalities often better behaved, and endowed with more dignity and honesty than humans." '''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=330–332}} She was particularly fond of cats, stating that they "provide something for writers that humans cannot: companionship that makes no demands or intrusions."'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|page=331}} In 1991 Highsmith said that if she came across a starving kitten and a starving baby she would feed the kitten.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=330–332}}

While several of her friends attested to her kindness to animals, some visitors to Highsmith's homes in France and Switzerland said that she mistreated her cats, including swinging one around in a towel to make it dizzy for the amusement of her guests.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|pages=286–288, 323–324}} She also disliked dogs and admitted to secretly kicking a neighbor's dog that she thought was misbehaving.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=315–316}} Bradford argues that her animal stories anthropomorphize them and give them the worst human characteristics.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=191}}

==Major works==

=== ''Strangers on a Train'' ===
Schenkar<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=557}}and Bradford<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=xii}} consider Highsmith's first novel, ''Strangers on a Train'', to be one of her finest works. Bradford writes that the book "made her name as a writer capable of evoking the horrific and the grotesque."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=46}} Her agent, Patricia Schartle, said that the basic idea of two strangers exchanging murders was one of "two almost perfect flashes of brilliance in her career."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=219}}

The novel introduces major themes in Highsmith's work including the complementary nature of good and evil, an implied homoerotic attraction between male antagonists, and shifting identities.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=98, 127–128}}<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=258}} On the novel's release, a ''New York Herald Tribune'' critic praised it for its suspenseful plotting and perceptive portrayal of a psychopath.'''<ref name="Wilson2003" />'''{{Rp|page=168}} A critic for The ''Times Literary Supplement'', however, criticised it as a confected thriller with a preposterous plot.<ref name="Mawer2004" />{{Rp|page=10}}

=== ''The Price of Salt'' ===
{{quote box|border=2px|align=right|width=15%|quote=How was it possible to be afraid and in love, Therese thought.  The two things did not go together.  How was it possible to be afraid, when the two of them grew stronger together every day?  And every night.  Every night was different, and every morning.  Together they possessed a miracle.|source=–''[[The Price of Salt]]'', chapter eighteen ([[Coward-McCann]], 1952)}}

Highsmith's second novel, ''The Price of Salt'', was published in 1952 under the [[pen name]] '''Claire Morgan'''.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=171–172}} Highsmith partly based the character Therese on herself.<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=49}}  The novel broke new ground in American [[lesbian fiction]] because of its hopeful ending,<ref name="talbot" /><ref name="Meaker2003" />{{Rp|page=1}}{{efn|Marijane Meaker (who wrote [[lesbian pulp fiction]] novels under the pseudonyms of "Ann Aldrich" and "Vin Packer") stated in her memoir: "[''The Price of Salt''] was for many years the only lesbian novel, in either hard or soft cover, with a happy ending."<ref name="Meaker2003" />{{Rp|page=1}} Schenkar and Talbot, however, point out that the character Carol has to give up custody of her child to continue her relationship with Therese. Schenkar calls the book: "a lesbian novel with an almost happy ending."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=50}} Talbot calls the novel: "a youthful book, and a hopeful one."<ref name="talbot" />}} and departure from lesbian stereotypes.<ref name="Carlston">{{cite news|last1=Carlston |first1=Erin G. |title=Essay: Patricia Highsmith's ''The Price of Salt'', The Lesbian Novel That's Now A Major Motion Picture |url=http://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2015/11/22/dlqvawdg1wjt1ls808mnk9y6e2xu3b |website=The National Book Review |date=November 22, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> In what [[BBC 2]]'s ''[[The Late Show (BBC TV series)|The Late Show]]'' presenter [[Sarah Dunant]] described as a "literary coming out" after 38 years of disaffirmation,<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=441–442}} Highsmith finally acknowledged authorship of the novel publicly when she agreed, in 1990, to its republication by [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] under the title ''Carol''. Highsmith wrote in the "Afterword" to the new edition: {{Blockquote|If I were to write a novel about a lesbian relationship, would I then be labelled a lesbian-book writer? That was a possibility, even though I might never be inspired to write another such book in my life. So I decided to offer the book under another name.{{nbsp}}...

The appeal of ''The Price of Salt'' was that it had a happy ending for its two main characters, or at least they were going to try to have a future together. Prior to this book, homosexuals male and female in American novels had had to pay for their deviation by cutting their wrists, drowning themselves in a swimming pool, or by switching to heterosexuality (so it was stated), or by collapsing – alone and miserable and shunned – into a depression equal to hell.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Highsmith |first=Patricia |title=Carol |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2010 |isbn=9781408808979 |edition=1st Paperback |location=London |chapter=Afterword}}</ref>}}The paperback version of the novel sold nearly one million copies before its 1990 reissue.<ref name="Rich">{{cite web|first=Frank|last=Rich|title=Loving Carol|url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/frank-rich-carol-invisibility-of-lesbian-culture.html|website=Vulture|publisher=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=November 18, 2015|access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> ''The Price of Salt'' is the only Highsmith novel in which no violent crime takes place<ref name="talbot">{{cite magazine|last1=Talbot|first1=Margaret|title=Forbidden Love|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/30/forbidden-love|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=November 30, 2015|access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> and, according to Harrison, the only one where sexual relations are portrayed openly and positively.<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|page=104}}

===The "Ripliad"===

Wilson calls Highsmith's first [[Tom Ripley]] novel, ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'', "One of her most powerful and celebrated novels."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=191}} She went on to write four sequels (in the series sometimes called the "Ripliad"<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=238}}) and by 1989, according to Bradford, "Ripley had become for her the equivalent of [[Conan Doyle]]'s Holmes, even Shakespeare's Hamlet, the figure who defined her as a writer."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=95}} Critic Anthony Hilfer sees Ripley as an exemplar of the "protean or perpetually self-inventing man" who can transform himself into anyone by mimicking their external traits.<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|pages=6–7}}

Highsmith wrote that in her first Ripley novel she was showing, "the unequivocal triumph of evil over good and rejoicing in it. I shall make my readers rejoice in it too."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=161}} Bradford argues that one of the strengths of the first Ripley novel is that it implicates its readers in an amoral world: "There was a general consensus that while the main character was vile and immoral Highsmith had somehow insulated him from the reader's inclination to judge."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=118}}

Tom Ripley has been variously described by commentators as "repellent and fascinating,"<ref name="Bradford2021" />'''{{Rp|page=118}}''' "a cold blooded killer with a taste for the finer things in life," and "an amoral but charming psychopath."<ref name="Wilson2003" /> {{Rp|pages=6, 192}} A critic for the ''Times Literary Supplement'' noted that in the second Ripley novel, ''Ripley Under Ground'' (1970), Ripley's new wealth had not made him more normal, but had turned him into "a contented psychopath."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=293}} Ripley is a serial killer who always gets away with his crimes. Shenkar believes "Ripley becomes more successful (and less interesting) with each new Ripley novel."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=164}} Critic Noel Mawer argues that in the later novels Ripley becomes less a "psychotic in his world of delusion" and more an "amoral, unfeeling sociopath who feels that murder is simply a necessity to protect what...[he] feels he has earned and deserved."<ref name="Mawer2004" />{{Rp|page=20}}

== Reception of work ==
Highsmith's critical reputation was divided in her lifetime. [[Marghanita Laski]] denounced her work as immoral and lacking human decency. Other commentators, most notably Graham Greene, considered the moral ambiguity of her work a strength.<ref name="Mawer2004" /> Although her novels were often critically acclaimed in the United States and Britain, they sold poorly in comparison with their sales in Europe, where her critical and popular reputation was higher.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|pages=198–199}} Peak sales for her novels in the United States, on initial publication, were under 8,000 each. ''The Tremor of Forgery'' and ''Ripley Under Ground'' (1970) sold just under 7,000 in their first year in Britain. ''Found in the Street'' (1987) sold 4,000 copies in the United States compared with 40,000 in Germany.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=319, 386, 429}}

Since Highsmith's death, her novels of the 1950s and 1960s have attracted the most critical acclaim.<ref name="Mawer2004" />{{Rp|page=1}} Bradford considers ''Strangers on a Train'', ''The Price of Salt'' and ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' her most accomplished novels and states, "Highsmith has done more than anyone to erode the boundaries between crime writing as a recreational sub-genre and literature as high art."<ref name="Bradford2021">{{Cite book|last=Bradford |first=Richard |title=Devils, Lusts and Strange desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith |publisher=Bloomsbury Caravel |year=2021 |isbn=9781448217908 |location=London}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=xii-xiii}}

== Themes, style and genre ==

=== Themes ===
Highsmith's themes were influenced by Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Kafka, and the existentialism of Sartre and Camus.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=4–5}} Wilson argues that her work presents an amoral world view in which murderers go unpunished or are only punished by chance. In 1966, Highsmith wrote: "neither life nor nature cares whether justice is ever done or not."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=221–23}}

Irrational behavior, abnormal psychology and extreme emotional states are recurrent themes. Bradford writes, "Issues such as guilt, hatred, self-loathing and unfulfilled longing which Highsmith endlessly contemplated without resolution became the cocktail for her fictional narratives and characters."<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=49}} Critic Russell Harrison states that Highsmith's protagonists often act irrationally because of self-imposed emotional constraints.<ref name="Harrison1997">{{cite book|last1=Harrison |first1=Russell |url=https://archive.org/details/patriciahighsmit00russ/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Patricia Highsmith (Twayne's United States Authors Series, No. 683) |date=1997 |publisher=[[Twayne Publishers]] |isbn=0-8057-4566-1 |edition=1st |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|page=6}} According to Graham Greene, "Her characters are irrational and they leap to life in the very lack of reason; suddenly we realize how unbelievably rational most fictional characters are."<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|page=5}}

Highsmith explored issues of double, splintered and shifting identities. Wilson states that many of her novels involve a struggle between two men who search out an opposite but defining doppelgänger.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=7, 89, 132}} Critic Fiona Peters points out that ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' and ''This Sweet Sickness'' involve protagonists who create false identities.<ref name="Peters2011">{{Cite book|last=Peters |first=Fiona |title=Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith |date=2011 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-1-4094-2334-8}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=81–83}} Harrison argues: "the theme of an individual transforming himself or herself, of the willed construction of a personality, once again suggest[s] existentialism's emphasis on individual choice free of any hint of determinism through history or genetics."<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|page=20}}

Critic David Cochran sees Highsmith's work as a critique of suburban America: "According to the dominant vision, a family, house in the suburbs and successful job equalled mental health and happiness, whereas the absence of these things led to sickness. But Highsmith consistently worked to break down these oppositions too. Especially in her view of American men, Highsmith subverted many of the ideological bases of the suburban ideal."<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|page=45}}

Male homosexual desire was a subtext of many of Highsmith's early works. Biographer Joan Schenkar states that the typical Highsmith situation is "two men bound together psychologically by the stalker-like fixation of one upon the other, a fixation that always involves a disturbing, implicitly homoerotic fantasy."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=xiv}} Highsmith explored lesbian relationships in ''The Price of Salt''. Homosexuality was an important theme in later novels such as ''Found in the Street'' (1986) and ''Small g: a Summer Idyll'' (1995).<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|page=97}}

=== Style ===
Highsmith mostly wrote in the third-person singular from the point of view of the main character who is usually male. In several novels she alternates the point of view of two leading male characters.<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|page=96}}<ref name="Mawer2004">{{Cite book|last=Mawer |first=Noel |title=A Critical Study of the Fiction of Patricia Highsmith: from the Psychological to the Political (Studies in American Literature, Vol 65) |publisher=The Edwin Mellen Press |year=2004 |isbn=0773465081 |location=Lewiston, N.Y.}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=7–8}} In 1966, she explained that a single point of view "increased the intensity of a story" whereas a double point of view brings a "change of pace and mood."<ref name="Mawer2004" />{{Rp|pages=7–8}}

Wilson calls Highsmith's prose style crisp, compact and near transparent.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=79}} Schenkar describes her narrative tone as a "low, flat compellingly psychotic murmur."<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=xiv–xv}} Wilson describes her tone as amoral, adding: "The mundane and the trivial are described in the same pitch as the horrific and the sinister and it is this unsettling juxtaposition that gives her work such power."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=5, 221–23}}

Commentators have variously described the atmosphere evoked by Highsmith's work as one of suspense, apprehension or unease. Graham Greene called her "the poet of apprehension."<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=7}} Peters states: "Highsmith's forte is anxiety: rather than merely turning the page to discover what happens next – in other words to be held in a state of suspense – her readers are suspended in a haze of dread, anxiety and apprehension."<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|page=18}} Wilson argues that Highsmith disturbs her readers by manipulating them into identifying with unconventional psychologies: "Highsmith's world is seen through the distorted perspective of an 'abnormal' man, but the style of writing is so transparent and flat that by the end the reader aligns himself with a point of view that is clearly unbalanced and disturbed."<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|page=89}}

=== Genre ===
Highsmith was usually classified as a crime, suspense or mystery writer in the United States, whereas in Europe she was considered a psychological or literary novelist. Peters argues that she does not fit comfortably within accepted genres.<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|pages=1–5}} Bradford considers ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' a precursor to gothic realism.<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=113}} Harrison argues that psychological realism is not prominent in her work and judges ''The Price of Salt'' to be one of her most social realist novels.<ref name="Harrison1997" />{{Rp|pages=ix, 98}} Some of her short stories, such as "The Snail-Watcher," have been classified as horror.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=267}}

==Honors==
* 1990 : [[Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]], [[French Ministry of Culture]]<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=589}}
* 2008 : Greatest Crime Writer, ''[[The Times]]''<ref>{{cite news|last1=Berlins|first1=Marcel|title=The 50 Greatest Crime Writers, No 1: Patricia Highsmith|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3767232.ece|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=January 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905053351/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3767232.ece|archive-date=September 5, 2008|date=April 17, 2008}}</ref>

===Awards and nominations===
* 1946 : [[O. Henry Award]], Best First Story, for ''The Heroine'' (in ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]'')<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=85}}
* 1951 : Nominee, [[Edgar Allan Poe Award]], Best First Novel, [[Mystery Writers of America]], for ''Strangers on a Train''<ref>{{cite web|title=Edgars Database|url=http://theedgars.com/awards/|website=TheEdgars.com|publisher=[[Mystery Writers of America]]|access-date=April 11, 2017|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731232503/http://theedgars.com/awards/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1956 : Edgar Allan Poe Scroll (special award), Mystery Writers of America, for ''The Talented Mr. Ripley''<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|pages=198–199}}
* 1957 : [[Grand Prix de Littérature Policière]], International, for ''The Talented Mr. Ripley''<ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|page=574}} 
* 1963 : [[Raven Award]], Mystery Writers of America, for "The Terrapin" (published in ''[[Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine]]'')<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=234}}
* 1964 : [[Silver Dagger Award]], Best Foreign Novel, [[Crime Writers' Association]], for ''The Two Faces of January'' (pub. [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Books and Writers|url=http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/C/crime-writers-association.html|website=booksandwriters.co.uk|publisher=[[Crime Writers' Association]]|access-date=April 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414061053/http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/C/crime-writers-association.html|archive-date=April 14, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1977 : {{ill|Prix de l'Humour noir Xavier Forneret|fr|Prix de l'Humour noir|vertical-align=sup}} for ''Little Tales of Misogyny'' (joint winner with illustrator Roland Topor)<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=301}}
* 1988 : {{ill|Prix littéraire Lucien Barrière|fr|Prix littéraire Lucien Barrière|vertical-align=sup}}, [[Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Prix Littéraire Lucien Barrière |url=http://www.festival-deauville.com/DEV/index.php?pid=38 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412092703/https://www.festival-deauville.com/DEV/index.php?pid=38 |archive-date=April 12, 2017 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |publisher=[[Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville]]}}</ref><ref name="Schenkar2009" />{{Rp|pages=588–89}}

==Novels==
{{Main|Patricia Highsmith bibliography}}The following list of Highsmith's novels is taken from Wilson.<ref name="Wilson2003" />{{Rp|page=ii}} The novels featuring Tom Ripley are listed separately as the "Ripliad".<ref name="Bradford2021" />{{Rp|page=238}}
* ''[[Strangers on a Train (novel)|Strangers on a Train]]'' (1950)
* ''[[The Price of Salt]]'' (1952) (as Claire Morgan) (republished as ''Carol'' in 1990 under Highsmith's name)
* ''[[The Blunderer]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Deep Water (Highsmith novel)|Deep Water]]'' (1957)
* ''[[A Game for the Living]]'' (1958)
* ''[[This Sweet Sickness]]'' (1960)
* ''[[The Cry of the Owl]]'' (1962)
* ''[[The Two Faces of January]]'' (1964)
* ''[[The Glass Cell (novel)|The Glass Cell]]'' (1964)
* ''[[A Suspension of Mercy]]'' (1965) (published as ''The Story-Teller'' in the U.S.)
* ''[[Those Who Walk Away]]'' (1967)
* ''[[The Tremor of Forgery]]'' (1969)
* ''[[A Dog's Ransom]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Edith's Diary]]'' (1977)
* ''[[People Who Knock on the Door]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Found in the Street]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Small g: a Summer Idyll]]'' (1995)
;The "Ripliad"
* ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Ripley Under Ground]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Ripley's Game]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Boy Who Followed Ripley]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Ripley Under Water]]'' (1991)

==Adaptations of Highsmith works==
Several of Highsmith's works have been adapted for other media, some more than once.<ref name=Arn>{{cite magazine|last1=Arn|first1=Jackson|title=Adaptation: Patricia Highsmith|url=http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/adaptation-patricia-highsmith/|magazine=[[Film Comment]]|publisher=[[Film Society of Lincoln Center]]|date=November 25, 2015|access-date=March 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Nolan|first1=Monica|title=Everyone Is Guilty: The Films of Patricia Highsmith|url=http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymag/Patricia-Highsmith.pdf|website=Noir City|publisher=Film Noir Foundation|date=Fall 2015|access-date=April 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Morris|first1=Bill|title=The Filmable Miss Highsmith|url=http://www.themillions.com/2015/11/the-filmable-miss-highsmith.html|website=[[The Millions]]|date=November 25, 2015|access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref>

===Film===
<!--Character names in films may not be spelled the same as in the novels.--> <!--User-generated sources are not acceptable — See WP:USERG.-->

* 1951: ''Strangers on a Train'' was adapted as a [[Strangers on a Train (film)|film of same name]] directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring [[Farley Granger]] as Guy Haines, [[Robert Walker (actor, born 1918)|Robert Walker]] as Bruno Anthony, [[Ruth Roman]] as Anne Morton, [[Patricia Hitchcock]] as Barbara Morton and [[Laura Elliott]] as Miriam Joyce Haines.
* 1963: ''The Blunderer'' was adapted as French language film ''Le meurtrier'' ("The Murderer"), directed by [[Claude Autant-Lara]] starring [[Maurice Ronet]] as Walter Saccard, [[Yvonne Furneaux]] as Clara Saccard, [[Gert Fröbe]] as Melchior Kimmel, [[Marina Vlady]] as Ellie and [[Robert Hossein]] as Corbi. It is known in English as ''[[Enough Rope (film)|Enough Rope]]''.
* 1969: ''Strangers on a Train'' was adapted as ''[[Once You Kiss a Stranger]]'', directed by [[Robert Sparr]] starring [[Paul Burke (actor)|Paul Burke]] as Jerry, [[Carol Lynley]] as Diana and [[Martha Hyer]] as Lee.
* 1977: ''This Sweet Sickness'' was adapted as French language film ''Dites-lui que je l'aime'', directed by [[Claude Miller]] starring [[Gérard Depardieu]] as David Martineau, [[Miou-Miou]] as Juliette, [[Dominique Laffin]] as Lise, and Jacques Denis as Gérard Dutilleux. It is known in English as ''[[This Sweet Sickness (film)|This Sweet Sickness]]''.
* 1978: ''The Glass Cell'' was adapted as German language film ''[[Die gläserne Zelle]]'', directed by [[Hans W. Geißendörfer]] starring [[Brigitte Fossey]] as Lisa Braun, [[Helmut Griem]] as Phillip Braun, [[Dieter Laser]] as David Reinelt and [[Walter Kohut]] as Robert Lasky.
* 1981: ''Deep Water'' was adapted as French language film ''[[Eaux profondes]]'', directed by [[Michel Deville]] starring [[Isabelle Huppert]] as Melanie and [[Jean-Louis Trintignant]] as Vic Allen.
* 1983: ''Edith's Diary'' was adapted as German language film ''Ediths Tagebuch'', directed by [[Hans W. Geißendörfer]] starring [[Angela Winkler]] as Edith.
* 1986: ''The Two Faces of January'' was adapted as German language film ''Die zwei Gesichter des Januars'', directed by Wolfgang Storch starring Charles Brauer as Chester McFarland, Yolanda Jilot as Colette McFarland and Thomas Schücke as Rydal Keener.
* 1987: ''The Cry of the Owl'' was adapted as French language film ''[[The Cry of the Owl (1987 film)|Le cri du hibou]]'', directed by [[Claude Chabrol]] starring [[Christophe Malavoy]] as Robert, [[Mathilda May]] as Juliette, Jacques Penot as Patrick and [[Virginie Thévenet]] as Véronique.
* 1987: The film version of ''Strangers on a Train'' by Alfred Hitchcock inspired the [[black comedy]] American film ''[[Throw Momma from the Train]]'', directed by [[Danny DeVito]].
* 1989: ''A Suspension of Mercy'' (aka ''The Story Teller'')  was adapted as German language film ''Der Geschichtenerzähler'', directed by Rainer Boldt starring Udo Schenk as Nico Thomkins and Anke Sevenich as Helen Thomkins.
* 2009: ''The Cry of the Owl'' was adapted as a film [[The Cry of the Owl (2009 film)|of same name]], directed by [[Jamie Thraves]] starring [[Paddy Considine]] as Robert Forester and [[Julia Stiles]] as Jenny Thierolf.
* 2014: ''The Two Faces of January'' was adapted as a [[The Two Faces of January (film)|film of same name]], written and directed by [[Hossein Amini]] starring [[Viggo Mortensen]] as Chester MacFarland, [[Kirsten Dunst]] as Colette MacFarland and [[Oscar Isaac]] as Rydal. It was released during the [[64th Berlin International Film Festival]]. 
* 2014: ''A Mighty Nice Man'' was adapted as a short film, directed by Jonathan Dee starring Kylie McVey as Charlotte, Jacqueline Baum as Emilie, [[Kristen Connolly]] as Charlotte's Mother, and [[Billy Magnussen]] as Robbie.
* 2015: A film adaptation of ''The Price of Salt'', titled ''[[Carol (film)|Carol]]'', was written by Phyllis Nagy and directed by [[Todd Haynes]], starring [[Cate Blanchett]] as Carol Aird and [[Rooney Mara]] as Therese Belivet.
* 2016: ''The Blunderer'' was adapted as ''[[A Kind of Murder]]'', directed by [[Andy Goddard]] starring [[Patrick Wilson]] as Walter Stackhouse, [[Jessica Biel]] as Clara Stackhouse, [[Haley Bennett]] as Ellie Briess, and [[Eddie Marsan]] as Mitchell "Marty" Kimmel.
* 2022: ''Deep Water'' was [[Deep Water (2022 film)|adapted again]], directed by [[Adrian Lyne]] starring [[Ben Affleck]] and [[Ana de Armas]].

===="Ripliad"====
* 1960: ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' was adapted as French language film ''Plein soleil'' (titled ''Purple Noon'' for English-language audiences, though it translates as "Full Sun"{{hairsp}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lesser|first1=Wendy|title=Purple Noon: A superior take on The Talented Mr. Ripley|url=https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1182-_purple-noon_-a-superior-take-on-_the-talented-mr-ripley_|website=[[Library of America]]|date=July 27, 2016|access-date=May 1, 2019}}</ref>). Directed by René Clément starring [[Alain Delon]] as Tom Ripley, [[Maurice Ronet]] as Philippe Greenleaf, and [[Marie Laforêt]] as Marge Duval. Both Highsmith and film critic [[Roger Ebert]] criticized the screenplay for altering the ending to prevent Ripley from going unpunished as he does in the novel.<ref name="Wilson-Telegraph" /><ref name="ebertpurple">{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |date=July 3, 1996 |title=Purple Noon |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/purple-noon-1960 |access-date=October 6, 2015 |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref>
* 1977: ''Ripley's Game'' (third novel) and a "plot fragment" of ''Ripley Under Ground'' (second novel) were adapted as German language film ''Der Amerikanische Freund'' (''The American Friend''). Directed by [[Wim Wenders]] with [[Dennis Hopper]] as Ripley. Highsmith initially disliked the film but later found it stylish, although she did not like how Ripley was interpreted.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Peary|first1=Gerald|title=Patricia Highsmith|url=http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/ghi/highsmith.html|website=geraldpeary.com|date=Spring 1988|access-date=October 6, 2015|ref=[[Sight & Sound]], (vol.75, no.2), pp.104–105|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173347/http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/ghi/highsmith.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
* 1999: ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' was adapted as [[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|an American production]]. Directed by [[Anthony Minghella]] with [[Matt Damon]] as Ripley, [[Jude Law]] as Dickie Greenleaf, and [[Gwyneth Paltrow]] as Marge Sherwood.
* 2002: ''Ripley's Game'' was adapted as a film [[Ripley's Game (film)|of same name]] for an English language Italian production. Directed by [[Liliana Cavani]] with [[John Malkovich]] as Ripley, [[Chiara Caselli]] as Luisa Harari Ripley, [[Ray Winstone]] as Reeves Minot, [[Dougray Scott]] as Jonathan Trevanny, and [[Lena Headey]] as Sarah Trevanny. Although not all reviews were favorable, Roger Ebert regarded it as the best of all the Ripley films.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger|authorlink=Roger Ebert|title=Ripley's Game|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002|website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|via=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=April 9, 2006|access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref>
* 2005: ''Ripley Under Ground'' was adapted as a film [[Ripley Under Ground (film)|of same name]]. Directed by [[Roger Spottiswoode]] with [[Barry Pepper]] as Ripley, [[Jacinda Barrett]] as Héloïse Plisson-Ripley, [[Willem Dafoe]] as Neil Murchison, and [[Tom Wilkinson]] as John Webster.
* 2024: ''[[Ripley (TV series)|Ripley]]'' is an American television series originally ordered by [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] in 2019, with [[Steven Zaillian]] directing, and [[Andrew Scott (actor)|Andrew Scott]] as Tom Ripley.<ref name=Malone>{{cite magazine|last1=Malone|first1=Michael|title=Showtime to Turn Highsmith's 'Ripley' Novels Into Series|url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/showtime-to-turn-highsmiths-ripley-novels-into-series|magazine=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=September 25, 2019|access-date=October 15, 2019}}</ref> Development of the limited series moved to [[Netflix]] in 2023,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Porter |first1=Rick |title='Ripley' Series Moving From Showtime to Netflix |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/talented-mr-ripley-series-moving-netflix-showtime-1235322247/ |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=February 10, 2023 |access-date=3 April 2023}}</ref> and premiered the following year.<ref name="Ripley2024">{{cite web |last1=Petski |first1=Denise |date=January 22, 2024 |title='Ripley' Teaser Trailer Unveils First Look At Andrew Scott As Tom Ripley; Netflix Premiere Date |url=https://deadline.com/2024/01/ripley-teaser-trailer-andrew-scott-tom-ripley-premiere-date-1235800424/ |access-date=5 April 2024 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref><ref name="Ripley-Netflix">{{cite news |last1=Lloyd |first1=Robert |date=April 4, 2024 |title=Netflix's 'Ripley' is a scrupulous, stylish adaptation with Andrew Scott as its star |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-04/ripley-review-netflix-andrew-scott-patricia-highsmith |access-date=5 April 2024 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

===Television===
<!-- User-generated sources are not acceptable — do not use them for citations. See WP:USERG. -->

* 1958: ''Strangers on a Train'' was adapted by [[Warner Brothers]] for an episode of the TV series ''[[77 Sunset Strip]]''.
* 1982: Scenes from the Ripley novels were dramatized in the episode ''A Gift for Murder'' of ''[[The South Bank Show]]'', with [[Jonathan Kent (director)|Jonathan Kent]] portraying Tom Ripley. The episode included an interview with Patricia Highsmith.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nagy|first1=Phyllis|title=Not Easily Pleased|url=http://metrograph.com/edition/article/41/not-easily-pleased|website=Metrograph Theatre|date=December 26, 2016|access-date=March 28, 2017|archive-date=March 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326135652/http://metrograph.com/edition/article/41/not-easily-pleased|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1983: ''Deep Water'' was adapted as a two-part [[miniseries]] for German television as ''Tiefe Wasser'', directed by [[Franz Peter Wirth]] starring Peter Bongartz as Vic van Allen, [[Constanze Engelbrecht]] as Melinda van Allen, [[Reinhard Glemnitz]]  as Dirk Weisberg, [[Raimund Harmstorf]] as Anton Kameter, and [[Sky du Mont]] as Charley de Lisle.<ref name="Metzler">{{cite book|last1=Metzler|first1=J.B.|title=Lexikon Literaturverfilmungen: Verzeichnis deutschsprachiger Filme 1945–2000|date=2001|publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=Stuttgart, Germany|page=88|edition=1st|language=de|isbn=978-3-476-01801-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Walt|first1=G|title=Tiefe Wasser|url=https://www.zauberspiegel-online.de/index.php/krimi-thriller-mainmenu-12/gesehenes-mainmenu-160/4925-tiefe-wasser-nach-patricia-highsmith|website=Zauberspiegel|access-date=July 4, 2018|language=de}}</ref>
* 1987: ''The Cry of the Owl'' was adapted for German television as ''Der Schrei der Eule'', directed by Tom Toelle starring [[Matthias Habich]] as Robert Forster, [[Birgit Doll]] as Johanna Tierolf, [[Jacques Breuer]] as Karl Weick, Fritz Lichtenhahn as Inspektor Lippenholtz, and [[Doris Kunstmann]] as Vicky.
* 1993: ''The Tremor of Forgery'' was adapted as German television film ''Trip nach Tunis'', directed by Peter Goedel starring [[David Hunt (actor)|David Hunt]] as Howard Ingham, [[Karen Sillas]] as Ina Pallant and John Seitz as Francis J. Adams.
* 1995: ''[[Little Tales of Misogyny]]'' was adapted as Spanish/Catalan television film ''Petits contes misògins'', directed by Pere Sagristà starring Marta Pérez, Carme Pla, Mamen Duch, and Míriam Iscla.
* 1996: ''Strangers on a Train'' was adapted for television as ''[[Once You Meet a Stranger]]'', directed by [[Tommy Lee Wallace]] starring [[Jacqueline Bisset]] as Sheila Gaines ("Guy"), [[Theresa Russell]] as Margo Anthony ("Bruno") and [[Celeste Holm]] as Clara. The gender of the two lead characters was changed from male to female.
* 1996: ''A Dog's Ransom'' was adapted as French television film ''La rançon du chien'', directed by [[Peter Kassovitz]] starring François Négret as César, [[François Perrot]] as Edouard Raynaud, [[Daniel Prévost]] as Max Ducasse and [[Charlotte Valandrey]] as Sophie.

===Theatre===
* 1998: ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' was adapted for the stage as a play of same name by playwright [[Phyllis Nagy]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Benedict |first1=David |title=Theatre: Getting away with murder |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-getting-away-with-murder-1201495.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=September 29, 1998 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615010231/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-getting-away-with-murder-1201495.html |archive-date=June 15, 2018}}</ref> It was revived in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Marks|first1=Peter|title=Karl Miller shines as 'Talented Mr. Ripley' at Round House Theatre|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/16/AR2010091606712.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 17, 2010|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref>
* 2013: ''Strangers on a Train'' was adapted as a play [[Strangers on a Train (play)|of same name]] by playwright [[Craig Warner]].

===Radio===
* 2002: A four-episode radio drama of ''The Cry of the Owl'' was broadcast by [[BBC Radio 4]], with [[voice acting]] by [[John Sharian]] as Robert Forester, Joanne McQuinn as Jenny Theirolf, [[Adrian Lester]] as Greg Wyncoop, and [[Matt Rippy]] as Jack Neilsen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Patricia Highsmith – The Cry of the Owl|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012qqvq|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]|date=June–July 2002}}</ref>
* 2009: All five books of the "Ripliad" were [[Adaptation (arts)|dramatized]] by BBC Radio 4, with [[Ian Hart]] voicing Tom Ripley.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Complete Ripley|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ht3rz|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]|date=February–March 2009}}</ref>
* 2014: A five-segment dramatization of ''Carol'' (aka ''The Price of Salt'') was broadcast by BBC Radio 4, with voice acting by [[Miranda Richardson]] as Carol Aird and [[Andrea Deck]] as Therese Belivet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Carol|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04stvbm|website=[[15 Minute Drama]]|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]|date=December 2014}}</ref>
* 2019: A five-episode broadcast of selected short stories (''One for the Islands'', ''A Curious Suicide'', ''The Terrors of Basket-Weaving'', ''The Man Who Wrote Books In His Head'', ''The Baby Spoon'') by BBC Radio 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Patricia Highsmith Stories|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cb2w|website=[[Short Works]]|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]|date=December 2019|access-date=October 9, 2020}}</ref>

==Novels, films, plays, and art about Highsmith==
;Novels
* {{cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=Jill |author1-link=Jill Dawson |title=The Crime Writer |date=2016 |publisher=[[Sceptre (imprint)|Sceptre]]. |isbn=978-1444731118}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dawson|first1=Jill|title=The Crime Writer|url=https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444731118|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|date=2016|access-date=March 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328054445/https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444731118|archive-date=March 28, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

;Graphic Novels
* {{cite book|last1=Ellis |first1=Grace |last2=Templer |first2=Hannah |title=Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith |date=2022 |edition=1st |publisher=[[Abrams ComicArts]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1419744334}}

;Films
* [https://www.helveticarchives.ch/detail.aspx?ID=905654  ''Highsmith: Her Secret Life''] (2004), [[made for television]] documentary by [[Hugh Thomson (writer)|Hugh Thomson]], [[BBC Four]].
** [http://www.thomson.clara.net/highsmth.html  ''Highsmith: Her Secret Life''], "notes on the film", Hugh Thomson, [[BBC]], 2004.
* ''[[Loving Highsmith (2022 film)|Loving Highsmith]]'' (2022), [[Theatrical release|theatrical]] documentary by Eva Vitija, Ensemble Film GmbH.<ref>{{cite web|title=Loving Highsmith |url=https://ticinofilmcommission.ch/en/video/868ac6c53bc4cc0a9cdae8f4813b6baf/loving-highsmith |website=Ticino Film Commission |date=2022 |access-date=20 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Loving Highsmith |url=https://zeitgeistfilms.com/userFiles/uploads/Press_Kits/LovingHighsmith_Presskit_ZG.pdf |website=Zeitgeist Films |date=2022 |access-date=20 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Kaufman |first1=Sophie Monks |title=Loving Highsmith |url=https://lwlies.com/reviews/loving-highsmith/ |magazine=[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]] |date=13 April 2023 |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>

;Plays
* [[Joanna Murray-Smith|Murray-Smith, Joanna]] (2015). ''Switzerland''. [[Dramatists Play Service]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8222-3435-7}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Murray-Smith|first1=Joanna|title=Switzerland|url=http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=5294|publisher=[[Dramatists Play Service]]|date=2015|access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref> (First presented at [[Sydney Theatre Company]] in November 2014).<ref>{{cite web|title=Switzerland |url=https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2014/switzerland |website=[[Sydney Theatre Company]] |date=2014 |access-date=March 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021095300/https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2014/switzerland |archive-date=October 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

;Art
* {{cite journal|last1=Bodman |first1=Sarah |last2=Campbell |first2=Nancy |title=Dinner and a Rose |url=https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7815564 |website=UWE Bristol Research Repository |publisher=[[University of the West of England]] |date=2021}} (A tribute to the food and drinks mentioned in ''The Talented Mr. Ripley''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dinner And A Rose |url=https://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/bodman-campbell.html |website=Poetry Beyond Text |publisher=[[Arts and Humanities Research Council]] |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>)

==See also==
*[[Ruth Rendell]]: A "mistress of suspense" contemporary of Highsmith for whom Highsmith acknowledged rarely admitted admiration. Rendell explored characters and themes similar to Highsmith's.<ref name="Peters2011" />{{Rp|pages=17–18}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hillerman|editor-first1=Tony|editor-last2=Herbert|editor-first2=Rosemary|title=A New Omnibus of Crime|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=194|isbn=978-0-19-518214-9}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
<!--If a source in Further reading is used as a citation it must be removed from this section.-->

* {{cite web|last1=Bradford |first1=Richard |title=Patricia Highsmith's Confessions and Rebellions at Yaddo |url=https://lithub.com/patricia-highsmiths-confessions-and-rebellions-at-yaddo/ |website=[[Literary Hub]] |date=January 19, 2021 |access-date=May 14, 2023}}
* Dirda, Michael (July 2, 2009). [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22797 This Woman Is Dangerous]. ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
* {{cite web |last=Doll |first=Jen |date=December 4, 2015 |title=The Bizarre True Story Behind "The Talented Mr. Ripley" |url=https://mentalfloss.atavist.com/the-bizarre-true-story-behind-the-talented-mr-ripley |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808043607/https://mentalfloss.atavist.com/the-bizarre-true-story-behind-the-talented-mr-ripley |archive-date=August 8, 2018 |access-date=June 9, 2017 |website=[[Mental Floss]]}}
* Dupont, Joan (June 12, 1988). [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/12/magazine/criminal-pursuits.html Criminal Pursuits]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved March 28, 2017. 
* Helmore, Edward (October 26, 2019). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/26/patricia-highsmith-diaries-published-controversial-views Diaries expose 'strong brew' of Ripley novelist Patricia Highsmith's dark thoughts]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
* McCann, Sean (April 1, 2011). [http://chum338.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2011/04/01/frequently-as-a-rat-has-orgasms/  "Frequently as a rat has orgasms"].  ''New York City in the '40s'', [[Wesleyan University]]. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
* {{cite magazine |last1=Michaud |first1=Jon |date=January 25, 2010 |title=Book Club: Highsmith and ''The New Yorker'' |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/book-club/book-club-highsmith-and-the-new-yorker |access-date=March 24, 2017 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}
* Morgan, Kim (December 4, 2015). [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/05/the-gnarly-allure-of-patricia-highsmith.html The Gnarly Allure of Patricia Highsmith]. ''[[The Daily Beast]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
* Perrin, Tom (December 18, 2012). [http://post45.research.yale.edu/2012/12/cluster-introduction-patricia-highsmith/  On Patricia Highsmith]. ''Post45'' ([[Yale University]]). Retrieved March 12, 2016.
* Piepenbring, Dan (January 19, 2015). [http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/01/19/a-dissatisfaction-with-life/  A Dissatisfaction with Life]. ''[[The Paris Review]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
* Rayner, Richard (July 17, 2011). [https://www.latimes.com/books/la-caw-paperback-writers-20110717-story.html Paperback Writers: Classic Patricia Highsmith]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
* Schenkar, Joan (February 25, 2016). [https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-patricia-highsmith-20160228-story.html What Patricia Highsmith did for love: 'The Price of Salt' and the secrets behind 'Carol']. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
* Shipley, Diane (April 1, 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/apr/01/patricia-highsmith-readership-two-faces-of-january Patricia Highsmith's criminal neglect]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
* {{cite news|last=Siegel|first=Ed|title=In her novels, Patricia Highsmith compellingly charts gay sensibility|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2004/07/04/in_her_novels_patricia_highsmith_compellingly_charts_gay_sensibility/?page=full|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=July 4, 2004|access-date=April 12, 2016}}
* Smith, Nathan (November 19, 2015). [https://newrepublic.com/article/124220/patricia-highsmith-offered-gay-readers-hopeful-ending When Patricia Highsmith Offered Gay Readers a Hopeful Ending]. ''[[The New Republic]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
* Tonkin, Boyd (December 7, 2015). [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/carol-patricia-highsmith-and-how-gay-literature-found-its-voice-in-the-1950s-a6763846.html  'Carol', Patricia Highsmith, and how gay literature found its voice in the 1950s]. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved March 5, 2016.

;Books

* {{cite book|editor-last1=Rzepka |editor-first1=Charles J. |editor-last2=Horsley |editor-first2=Lee |title=A Companion to Crime Fiction |year=2010 |pages=6, 40–41, 84, 160–162, 193–194, 503–509 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sQ7476sjkcC&q=A+Companion+to+Crime+Fiction |isbn=978-1444317923}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Patricia Highsmith}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180114225653/http://ead.nb.admin.ch/html/highsmith.html Patricia Highsmith Papers – Swiss Literary Archives]. [[Swiss National Library]], 2006.
* [http://www.news.admin.ch/NSBSubscriber/message/attachments/2149.pdf Patricia Highsmith – Exhibition of the Swiss National Library]. March–September 2006, [[Swiss National Library]], March 13, 2006.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170428145432/https://www.nb.admin.ch/aktuelles/medieninformation/01134/index.html Patricia Highsmith : photographs from the exhibition]. [[Swiss Literary Archives]], [[Swiss National Library]], December 1, 2006. (archive)
* [http://chooseyourhighsmith.com Choose Your Highsmith] (The Patricia Highsmith Recommendation Engine). [[W. W. Norton & Company]]. 
* [http://www.existentialennui.com/p/patricia-highsmith-first-edition-book.html Patricia Highsmith First Edition Book Cover Gallery (UK publishers)]. Existential Ennui, 2013.
* [http://pro.magnumphotos.com/Catalogue/Rene-Burri/1988/Patricia-HIGHSMITH-US-writer-NN135547.html Patricia Highsmith gallery] by [[René Burri]], [[Magnum Photos]], 1988.
* [http://quartetbooks.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/patricia-highsmith/  Patricia Highsmith] interview by [[Naim Attallah]], Naim Attallah Online, [[Quartet Books]], 1993.
* [https://worldcat.org/identities/np-highsmith,%20patricia$1921%201995/  Works by or about Patricia Highsmith] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018013659/https://worldcat.org/identities/np-highsmith,%20patricia$1921%201995/ |date=October 18, 2020 }} in libraries ([[WorldCat]] catalog)
* {{IMDb name|0383604}}

===Audio interviews===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040622002320/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/highsmithp1.shtml Thrillers and Crime Fiction], Patricia Highsmith interview on ''Audio Interviews'', [[BBC Four]], December 3, 1972 (archive)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mxj3 Patricia Highsmith], interview with [[Roy Plomley]], ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', [[BBC Radio 4]], April 21, 1979.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03m0lqs ''The Black House'' by Patricia Highsmith], interview with [[Peter Clayton]], ''Meridian'', [[BBC World Service]], August 8, 1980.
* [https://freshairarchive.org/segments/patricia-highsmith-her-thrilling-fiction Patricia Highsmith on her Thrilling Fiction], interview with [[Terry Gross]], ''[[Fresh Air with Terry Gross]]'', [[NPR]], October 27, 1987.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090717091118/http://wiredforbooks.org/mp3/PatriciaHighsmith1987.mp3 Patricia Highsmith]}}, interview with Don Swaim, ''Book Beat'', [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS-Radio]] (via ''[[Wired for Books]]'', [[Ohio University]]), October 29, 1987. (archive) {{plays audio}}
* [http://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/ICA-talks/024M-C0095X0763XX-0100V0/  Patricia Highsmith, In Conversation] with [[Michael Dibdin]], ICA talks, [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]], September 27, 1991.

{{Patricia Highsmith novels}}
{{Berlin International Film Festival jury presidents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Highsmith, Patricia}}
[[Category:Patricia Highsmith|Patricia Highsmith]]
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