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Patricia Highsmith was an author who mastered the art of the psychological thriller, leaving an indelible mark on the genre with works like The Talented Mr. Ripley, published in 1955, and her compelling debut, Strangers on a Train—two highlights from an incredible collection of 22 novels. After her death in 1995, the discovery of fifty-six thick notebooks revealed that Highsmith had been a prolific diarist for sixty years, leaving behind a unique glimpse into the life and mind of a complex and intriguing figure. The following entry is just one example, written as 1948 dawned. Highsmith was twenty-seven, and it would be more than two years until her first novel captured the public’s attention.
The Diary Entry
31st December 1947
2:30 A.M. My New Year’s Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envys, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle—may they never give me peace.
Further Reading
Patricia Highsmith’s diaries live at the Swiss Literary Archives in Berne. In 2021, in a hefty volume compiled by her editor Anna von Planta, they were published by Liveright with the title, Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks. Riveting from start to finish, the book is a triumph.
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