Beloved by fans who were unaware of the real psychological turmoil behind her prose, the famously secretive Highsmith refused to authorize a biography, instead sequestering herself in her Switzerland home in her final years. After Highsmith's death, her devoted editor Anna von Planta discovered her diaries and notebooks in 1995. For years thereafter, von Planta meticulously culled passages from over eight thousand pages to reveal the inscrutable figure behind the legendary pen.
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