Edith's Diary - by Patricia Highsmith (Paperback)

About the Book

"Edith Howland's diary is her most precious possession. After moving with her family from New York City to suburban Pennsylvania, Edith's husband abandons her for a younger woman, leaving her trapped in a bleak existence with her degenerate son and his senile uncle. As Edith's life turns sour, she retreats into her writing; and while her life plunges into chaos, a disturbing tale of success and happiness blooms in her diary. She invents a happy life, and as she knits for imaginary grandchildren, the real world recedes further still, marking a descent into madness that may well be unstoppable."--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

Edith Howland's diary is her most precious possession. After moving with her family from New York City to suburban Pennsylvania, Edith's husband abandons her for a younger woman, leaving her trapped in a bleak existence with her degenerate son and his senile uncle. As Edith's life turns sour, she retreats into her writing; and while her life plunges into chaos, a disturbing tale of success and happiness blooms in her diary. She invents a happy life, and as she knits for imaginary grandchildren, the real world recedes further still, marking a descent into madness that may well be unstoppable.

Originally published in 1977, Edith's Diary is a masterpiece of psychological suspense, a harrowing and tautly written tale of an ordinary woman whose life is slipping out of control. The author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith is one of the most original voices in twentieth-century American fiction.

Review Quotes

Praise for Edith's Diary:

"A work of extraordinary force and feeling . . . Her strongest, her most imaginative, and by far her most substantial novel."-New Yorker

"With Edith's Diary, Patricia Highsmith has produced a masterpiece."-Times Literary Supplement (UK)

"Edith's fall takes the form of an old-fashioned psychological chiller, but there is also something stronger, the poignancy of her struggle not to go under. She is betrayed by such ordinary dreams."-New York Times

"[A] fine and chilling character study."-Newsweek

"Even as Edith is struggling to cope . . . moral speculations surface about the respective responsibilities of the uncaring and the unloved, tenterhooks cushioned with an enveloping intimacy of character and place."-Kirkus Reviews

"As original, as funny, as cleverly written and as moving as any novel I have read since I started reviewing."-Auberon Waugh, Evening Standard (UK)

"Edith's Diary is certainly one of the saddest novels I ever read, but it is also one of the mere twenty or so that I would say were perfect, unimprovable masterpieces."-A.N Wilson, Daily Telegraph (UK)

"Highsmith is a writer of intense subtlety . . . She probes to the very core of her heroine with a controlled ferocity and single-mindedness that illumines every page of the novel. It is a masterly book, a haunting book, a book that lingers long in the memory and constantly disturbs and delights."-Times (UK)

About the Author

Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) is the author of more than twenty novels, including Strangers on a Train, The Price of Salt, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as numerous short stories.