Patricia Highsmith (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
Biography
Patricia Highsmith (née Mary Patricia Plangman) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on January 19, 1921, to Jay Plangman and Mary Coates. Highsmith's parents separated five months prior to her birth, and in interviews Highsmith has revealed that her mother tried to terminate her pregnancy by drinking turpentine.
Highsmith was initially raised by her maternal grandmother. She moved to New York in 1927 when her mother wed Stanley Highsmith. Their tempestuous marriage involved multiple separations. At age ten, Patricia learned Stanley was not her biological father,...
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