num_pages: 465
description: 'Bring[s] us as close to understanding Highsmith as we are ever likely to get' Sunday Telegraph'An exemplary biography of a tortured, difficult and outstandingly gifted human being' Sunday Times'Everything Wilson has unearthed is remarkable' Mail on SundayPatricia Highsmith – author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr Ripley – had more than her fair share of secrets. During her life, she felt uncomfortable about discussing the source of her fiction and refused to answer questions about her private life. Yet after her death in February 1995, Highsmith left behind a vast archive of personal documents – diaries, notebooks and letters – which detail the links between her life and her work.Drawing on these intimate papers, together with material gleaned from her closest friends and lovers, Andrew Wilson has written the first biography of an author described by Graham Greene as the 'poet of apprehension'. Wilson illuminates the dark corners of Highsmith's life, casts light on mysteries of the creative process and reveals the secrets that the writer chose to keep hidden until after her death.WINNER OF THE EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARDWINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE WHITBREAD BIOGRAPHY AWARD
language: English
title: Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith
titlecomplete: Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith
genres: LGBT, Lesbian, The United States Of America, Biography Memoir, Biography, Writing, Memoir, Nonfiction, Queer, Womens
ratings_count: 818
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Stonewall Book Award
category: Non-Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Macavity Award
category: Best Critical/Biographical, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Anthony Award
category: Best Critical Work, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Edgar Award
category: Best Critical/Biographical, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Lambda Literary Award
category: Biography, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: The Publishing Triangle Award
category: The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC