{"title":"Patricia Highsmith","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-talented-mr-ripley","title":"The Talented Mr Ripley","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1955, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Talented Mr. Ripley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e introduces Tom Ripley, a young American living by his wits in New York, whose talent for deception brings him an unexpected invitation to Italy. Sent to persuade the wealthy Dickie Greenleaf to return home, Tom becomes captivated by Dickie’s privileged existence: the sunlit villas, leisurely days and effortless security of a life far removed from his own. As his fascination turns into something darker, Tom begins to imagine that he might claim not merely Dickie’s friendship, but his entire identity.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSet against the elegant landscapes of the Italian coast and the uneasy social world of post-war Europe, Highsmith’s novel is a study of envy, impersonation, class aspiration and the unsettling elasticity of morality. Its extraordinary achievement lies in drawing the reader into the mind of a murderer, making his calculations and evasions as compelling as they are disturbing. The first of five novels featuring Tom Ripley, it established one of twentieth-century fiction’s most fascinating antiheroes and remains a defining work of psychological suspense.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than the experiencing.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Patricia Highsmith, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Talented Mr. Ripley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Talented Mr. Ripley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“You certainly wouldn’t want to meet him; but he is perfectly fascinating to read about.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Lockhart American, The Pittsburgh Press (1955)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64193586331978,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"strangers-on-a-train","title":"Strangers on a Train","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1950, Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel begins with a chance encounter aboard a train. Guy Haines, an architect travelling to obtain a divorce, meets Charles Bruno, a charming but deeply disturbed stranger who proposes an extraordinary exchange: each man will murder the other’s chosen victim, leaving neither with an apparent motive. Guy dismisses the suggestion as the fantasy of an unstable mind, but Bruno refuses to let the encounter end with the journey. What follows is a tightening psychological drama in which an ordinary life is gradually drawn into the orbit of another man’s obsession.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoving between the minds of its two protagonists, Highsmith’s novel explores guilt, complicity, identity and the fragile boundaries between respectability and violence. Its suspense comes not simply from the threat of discovery, but from the disturbing intimacy that develops between two men who might otherwise have remained strangers. The book established Highsmith’s distinctive vision of crime fiction, in which moral certainty gives way to psychological unease, and inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated 1951 film adaptation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003e“The \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003enight \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003ewas \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003ea \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003etime \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003efor \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003ebestial \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003eaffinities, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003efor \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003edrawing \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003ecloser \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003eto \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-d-text-flow=\"word\" data-d-stream-word=\"\"\u003eoneself.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Patricia Highsmith, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStrangers on a Train\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStrangers on a Train\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Has lost none of its power to disturb.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Paula Hawkins, introduction to the 2021 Norton reprint\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64193653309770,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"carol","title":"Carol","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1952 under the pseudonym Claire Morgan and the title \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Price of Salt\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Patricia Highsmith’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCarol\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a love story that quietly challenged the conventions of its time. Therese Belivet, a young sales assistant in a Manhattan department store, meets Carol Aird, an elegant married woman in the midst of a divorce. What begins as an encounter across a shop counter develops into an attachment that draws both women beyond the boundaries of their familiar lives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSet against the social constraints of post-war America, the novel explores desire, independence, class, and the risks of choosing a life outside accepted expectations. Distinct from the psychological menace of Highsmith’s better-known thrillers, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCarol\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals her gift for tension and moral ambiguity within a deeply intimate story. Its refusal of the tragic conventions traditionally imposed on queer characters made it a landmark of lesbian literature; republished under Highsmith’s own name in 1990, it remains one of her most affecting works.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Happiness was like a green vine spreading through her, stretching fine tendrils, bearing flowers through her flesh.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Patricia Highsmith, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCarol\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eCarol\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“An original, honest novel, a remarkable imaginative achievement by any standard.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Financial Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64193677984074,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"ripleys-game","title":"Ripley's Game","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1974, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRipley’s Game\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e finds Patricia Highsmith’s most beguiling creation, Tom Ripley, settled into a life of cultivated ease in the French countryside. Wealthy, married to the elegant Héloïse, and surrounded by the comforts of Belle Ombre, Ripley is beginning to find retirement tedious. When an old criminal associate asks him to arrange two murders, Ripley sees an opportunity for amusement and revenge, drawing an unsuspecting Englishman, Jonathan Trevanny, into a dangerous scheme.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe third novel in Highsmith’s celebrated Ripley sequence, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRipley’s Game\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a study in manipulation, moral compromise, and the curious seductions of power. As Jonathan is drawn further into violence, Highsmith explores the fragile boundary between ordinary respectability and criminality, while allowing her charmingly amoral antihero to remain unnervingly close to the reader. Set between the French countryside and the shadowy world of international crime, the novel is distinguished by its dry humour, psychological precision, and quietly escalating menace.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There’s no such thing as a perfect murder... That’s just a parlour game, trying to dream one up.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Patricia Highsmith, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRipley’s Game\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eRipley’s Game\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The ultimate in elegant, amused, sophisticated sangfroid.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64194107179338,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/patricia-highsmith.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}