Found in the Street: A Virago Modern Classic

Description

On a stroll through Greenwich Village, security guard Ralph Linderman finds a wallet on the sidewalk. It belongs to Jack Sutherland, a wealthy aspiring artist, and it is his misfortune to have it returned to him - with all $263 and credit cards untouched. Because now Ralph knows where Jack lives. Elsie Tyler is a beautiful young waitress - an innocent in New York - and Ralph feels he must protect her from 'bad company'. When he sees Elsie leaving Jack's apartment, he is not pleased. Not pleased at all. By the author of The Talented Mr Ripley, FOUND IN THE STREET is an unsettling thriller that explores the bleakest alleyways of human desire.

Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and moved to New York when she was six. In her senior year, she edited the college magazine, having decided at the age of sixteen to become a writer. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train (1950), was made into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), introduced the fascinating anti-hero Tom Ripley, and was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1999 by Anthony Minghella. Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, in February 1995. Her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously, the same year.

Uncomfortable, frightening, compulsive and, worst of all, terribly believable. It's vintage Highsmith - Time Out I love Highsmith so much . . . What a revelation her writing is No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying - Vogue An extremely clever novel . . . there is no one quite like Highsmith