num_pages: 234
description: The Great Revival of Interest in Patricia Highsmith continues with two works that reveal the chilling reality behind the idyllic facade of American suburban life. In Deep Water, set in the small town of Little Wesley, Vic and Melinda Meller'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 tries to win her back by asserting himself through a tall tale of murder--one that soon comes true. The stories collected in Mermaids on the Golf Course are among Highsmith's most mature, psychologically penetrating works. As in the title story, in which a man's brush with death endows his everyday desires with tragic consequences, the warm familiarities of middle-class life becomes the eerie setting for Highsmith's chilling portrayals of violence, secrecy, and madness.
language: English
title: Mermaids on the Golf Course
titlecomplete: Mermaids on the Golf Course
genres: 20th Century, Crime, Suspense, Collections, Noir, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Short Stories, The United States Of America, Mystery
ratings_count: 338
publisher: Penguin UK