Starting in the 1950s, Patricia Highsmith made waves in the world of fiction with her numerous novels and literary works, many of which were adapted into both films and stage plays.

Her first book, a psychological thriller called Strangers On A Train, became a movie of the same name in 1951 by Alfred Hitchcock; More recently, Highsmith’s semi-autobiographical romance novel The Price of Salt (DB 83805), about a love affair between two women, became the 2015 six-time-Academy-Award-nominated film Carol. Compared to other lesbian literature of its time—where the lives and relationships of homosexual characters were consistently and unjustly ill-fated—The Price of Salt (Now also titled Carol,) was praised for its unconventionally optimistic ending. Check out a few of the works that span Highsmith’s prolific career:

DB 53231
The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith

Short stories from five previous collections including “The Animal-Lover’s Book of Beastly Murder,” where pets and other creatures take revenge on their masters, and “Little Tales of Misogyny,”  featuring female stereotypes. Foreword by Graham Greene. Some violence and some strong language. 2001.

DB 50315
The Talented Mr. Ripley; Ripley Under Ground; Ripley’s Game

Three complete psychological crime novels featuring the well-mannered and unscrupulous Tom Ripley. In the first, Ripley is commissioned to persuade a young expatriate in Italy to return to his family in the States. But Ripley is so taken with Dickie Greenleaf and his comfortable existence, he decides to become Dickie—by murdering him. Some violence. 1974.

DB 83805
Carol

Therese is working at a department store as she tries to become an apprentice stage designer. While at the store, she meets an older woman named Carol. They begin a romantic relationship, despite Carol’s marriage and Therese’s boyfriend. Basis for 2015 Oscar-nominated movie. (Previously titled The Price of Salt.) Some descriptions of sex. 1952.