Deep Water

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393324559 ISBN 13: 9780393324556

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012

In Deep Water, set in the quiet, small town of Little Wesley, Patricia Highsmith has created a vicious and suspenseful tale of love gone sour.

Vic and Melinda Van Allen's loveless marriage is held together only by a precarious arrangement whereby, in order to avoid the messiness of divorce, Melinda is allowed to take any number of lovers as long as she does not desert her family. Eventually, Vic can no longer suppress his jealousy and tries to win back his wife by asserting himself through a tall tale of murder―one that soon comes true. In this complex portrayal of a dangerous psychosis emerging in the most unlikely of places, Highsmith examines the chilling reality behind the idyllic facade of American suburban life.

About the Author:

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

Review:

“Highsmith is crime fiction's most lethal existentialist...[She] simultaneously makes the subconscious smile and the skin crawl.”
- Ed Siegel, Boston Globe

“So good and utterly addictive.”
- Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me