Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith is a renowned modern writer known for her psychological thrillers. This biography explores her relationship with her lesbianism, fraught personality, and fiction, highlighting her cruelty towards friends and lovers and her exploitation. Despite her success, she is often seen as an LGBTQ+ icon due to her self-loathing.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 02 February 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Patricia Highsmith, a renowned author known for her psychological thrillers such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train," has captivated readers for decades. However, her life and work have remained largely shrouded in mystery. Despite her immense literary success, there has been a lack of comprehensive exploration into the woman behind the books. This biography seeks to rectify that by delving into the complex relationship between Highsmith's lesbianism, her fraught personality, and her fiction.

Highsmith's lesbianism has often been overlooked or marginalized by biographers, despite its significant impact on her life and work. She wrote the seminal lesbian love story "Carol," which has been celebrated as a radical expression of LGBTQ+ identity in modern times. However, her status as an LGBTQ+ icon is complicated by her excessive cruelty towards and exploitation of her friends and many lovers.

In this biography, author Richard Bradford employs his sharp and incisive style to examine Highsmith's bestsellers within the context of her troubled personal life. Bradford explores Highsmith's alcoholism, licentious sex life, racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and abundant self-loathing, providing a comprehensive portrait of the writer as a complex and controversial figure.

Through his meticulous research and insightful analysis, Bradford sheds light on the inner workings of Highsmith's mind and the influences that shaped her writing. He explores the themes of power, manipulation, and morality that thread through her novels, highlighting the ways in which Highsmith's personal experiences and struggles found expression in her fiction.

Bradford also delves into the social and cultural context of the twentieth century, which played a significant role in shaping Highsmith's life and work. He discusses the challenges faced by women writers in a male-dominated literary landscape, as well as the impact of homosexuality on society during that time.

Overall, this biography offers a fresh and compelling perspective on Patricia Highsmith, one of the most influential and celebrated modern writers. It provides a deeper understanding of the woman behind the books, exploring her complex personality, troubled personal life, and the profound impact her fiction has had on readers worldwide.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781448218226