The Black House -- Patricia Highsmith, Paperback

Horrific tragedy becomes disturbingly ordinary in The Black House, a masterful collection of short stories, written during a particularly dark time in Patricia Highsmith's life. As readers will discover, the work eerily evokes the warm familiarities of suburban life: the manicured lawns, the white picket fences, and the local pubs, each providing the backbone for her chilling portraits. Seemingly small indiscretions and infidelities--along with love affairs and murder--consume the characters that commit them. Cycles of destructive jealousy overwhelm the cheating protagonists of "Blow It" and "When in Rome," and the title story explores small-town male camaraderie and the destructive secret it masks. This enthralling collection of eleven stories presents Highsmith at her finest: melancholy, suspenseful, and sizzling with a powerful awareness of human emotion.

Author: Patricia Highsmith
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 12/01/2004
Pages: 270
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.51lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.48w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9780393326314

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 08/01/2004 pg. 52
Library Journal 01/15/2005 pg. 172
Library Journal 08/01/2004
Library Journal 01/01/2005