A Suspension of Mercy
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2013) |
 First UK edition | |
| Author | Patricia Highsmith |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Set in | Suffolk, England |
| Published | Heinemann (1965) |
| Pages | 251 |
A Suspension of Mercy (1965) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. It was published in the US under the title The Story-Teller later the same year by Doubleday.[1] It was the eleventh of her 22 novels.
Composition
The protagonist's surname refers to Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" and its enigmatic title character.
Synopsis
Sidney Bartleby is an American television scriptwriter living near Framlingham, Suffolk, England, who specialises in murder mysteries. To help find inspiration for story ideas, he fantasizes about killing his wife, Alicia, drawing up plans in great detail. With little warning she decides their relationship merits a trial separation. She leaves for a long holiday and he begins to let his imagination take his story ideas further. He begins to consider whether he might someday enact one of his plots in real life. When he finds Alicia with another man, he has the motive his scheme was lacking and the lines between fact and fiction blur.
Reception
In the New York Times, Anthony Boucher wrote: "It's a curious and absorbing novel, almost unique in its fantastic and ironic tone".[2]
Highsmith's biographer Andrew Wilson calls this work "the author's most postmodern novel" and describes it as "a literary hall of mirrors in which reality and fiction are constantly reflected and, ultimately, confused".[3]
References
- ^ "Patricia Highsmith Bibliography". Classic Crime Fiction. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- ^ Veale, Scott (September 2, 2001). "New & Noteworthy Paperbacks". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ Andrew Wilson, Beautiful Shadow, [page needed]
 | This article about a crime novel of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |