'Edith's Diary' by Patricia Highsmith is a taut, psychological novel that follows the life of Edith Howland, a middle-aged woman who moves with her family from New York City to a small town in Pennsylvania. The story spans over two decades, from the 1950s to the 1970s, portraying Edith's struggles with her dysfunctional family, political issues during the Vietnam War era, and her own dreams and fantasies. Through the subtle but overwhelming transformation of Edith's character, the book delves into themes of disappointment, coping mechanisms, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction as Edith creates a false narrative in her diary to escape from her challenging life.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The novel addresses themes of mental illness, familial dysfunction, infidelity, sociopathy, and societal pressures, which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
By the bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train
INTRODUCED BY DENISE MINA
'Highsmith probes to the very core of her heroine with a controlled ferocity and single-mindedness that illuminates every page of her novel. It is a masterly book, a haunting book, a book that lingers long in the memory and constantly disturbs and delights' The Times
'A work of extraordinary force and feeling . . . her strongest, her most imaginative and by far her most substantial novel' New Yorker
Edith Howland's diary is her most precious possession, and as she is moving house she is making sure it's safe. A suburban housewife in fifties America, she is moving to Brunswick with her husband Brett and her beloved son, Cliffie, to start a new life for them all. She is optimistic, but most of all she has high hopes for her new venture with Brett, a local newspaper, the Brunswick Corner Bugle.
Life seems full of promise, and indeed, to read her diary, filled with her most intimate feelings and revelations, you would never think otherwise. Strange, then, that reality is so dangerously different . . .
'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, Telegraph
What can you read after
Edith's Diary?
About the Author:
Patricia Highsmith, the nom de plume of Mary Patricia Plangman, was born in Texas, in 1921. She was raised by her grandmother in New York City, but was later taken in by her mother and stepfather. She graduated from Barnard College in 1942 and shortly thereafter became a writer for the comic book series Black Terror. Highsmith's first novel Strangers on a Train was first published in 1950, and in 1951 Alfred Hitchcock adapted the work for the screen, which helped Highsmith gain literary renown.
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