“There wasn’t a word for the way he felt about Melinda, for that combination of loathing and devotion.”

Hosts John Cribbs & Christopher Funderburg discuss Patricia Highsmith’s 1957 novel, Deep Water, a cruel and curious marital thriller about a shamelessly philandering housewife and the seemingly meek husband who not only puts up with her affairs but invites her paramours into their home.

Highsmith’s 5th novel might be her masterpiece; the writing combines the author’s cutting psychological insights with a slow-burning plot organized around capricious lies and equally capricious murders. It’s the story of slugs, a small press specializing in poetry, and when an unwillingness to address domestic strife becomes a kind of dangerous psychosis.

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Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”

Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”