Those Who Walk Away, by Patricia Highsmith

A middle-aged man blames his son-in-law for the suicide of his daughter, and tries to exact a warped kind of just. 

It's been a while since I read a Patricia Highsmith novel, so I thought I'd give Those Who Walk Away a go. It was first published in 1967 and is set in Venice, and is rich in descriptions of that city.

The story is a pretty simple one. Ray Garrett, who is in his mid-twenties, is recently bereaved. His wife, Peggy, has committed suicide. It remains a bit of a mystery as to why. She was an idealistic young woman - someone who wanted the world to be a better place than it was - but beyond that she seemed fairly well adjusted to life. 

Peggy's father, Edward Coleman, blames Ray entirely. He is a bloody minded bully. In a completely brazen act, he attempts to shoot Ray dead, but botches the job. Ray, who is lacking in confidence and who vaguely blames himself for Peggy's death, doesn't do the obvious thing and report his father-in-law to the police. He rather pursues Edward, hoping to make amends. This only infuriates Edward more and he makes several more attempts on Ray's life. 

Reading this story, which is a game of cat-and-mouse between father-in-law and son-in-law, it occurred to me that Highsmith thumbs her nose at America in a lot of her fiction. All of the American characters in Those Who Walk Away are either weak, pathetic, violent or insipid. The ruthless, self-satisfied, amoral Edward reminded me a bit of Donald Trump in his grossness and self-interest. 

The novel leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Why did Peggy kill herself? Why is Ray so pathetic? How can Edward be lacking in any kind of normal emotions or empathy? What is Highsmith trying to tell us about American culture? 

Highsmith's novels usually come with a bit of humour, but this one is unrelentingly dark. Unrelentingly gripping too, but still dark.