num_pages: 249
description: Rife with overtones of Dostoyevsky, The Glass Cell combines a quintessential Highsmith mystery with a penetrating critique of the psychological devastation wrought by the prison system.In 1961, Patricia Highsmith received a fan letter from a prison inmate. A correspondence ensued between author and inmate, and Highsmith became fascinated with the psychological traumas that incarceration can inflict. Based on a true story, The Glass Cell is Highsmith's deeply disturbing fictionalization of everything she learned. Falsely convicted of fraud, the easy-going but naive Philip Carter is sent to prison. Despite his devotion to Hazel, his wife, and the support of David Sullivan, a lawyer and friend who tries to avenge the injustice done to him, Carter endures six lonely and drug-ravaged years. Upon his release, Carter is a much more discerning, suspicious, and violent man. For those around him, earning back his trust can mean the difference between life and death.
language: English
title: The Glass Cell
titlecomplete: The Glass Cell
genres: American, Noir, Mystery, Suspense, Novels, Thriller, 20th Century, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime
ratings_count: 1443
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company