Black House

<p>Horrific tragedy becomes disturbingly ordinary in <em>The Black House</em> a masterful collection of short stories written during a particularly dark time in Patricia Highsmith's life. As readers will discover the work eerily evokes the warm familiarities of suburban life: the manicured lawns the white picket fences and the local pubs each providing the backbone for her chilling portraits. Seemingly small indiscretions and infidelities--along with love affairs and murder--consume the characters that commit them. Cycles of destructive jealousy overwhelm the cheating protagonists of "Blow It" and "When in Rome" and the title story explores small-town male camaraderie and the destructive secret it masks. This enthralling collection of eleven stories presents Highsmith at her finest: melancholy suspenseful and sizzling with a powerful awareness of human emotion.</p>