Patricia 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.