Flung Out of Space

Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith

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Grace Ellis, Hannah Templer: Flung Out of Space (2023, Abrams, Inc.)

English language

Published May 29, 2023 by Abrams, Inc..

ISBN:
978-1-4197-4434-1
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5 stars (1 review)

3 editions

reviewed Flung Out of Space by Grace Ellis

What's your wife's name again, Eddie? Because I'd like to murder you, but I want to be sure that she hasn't called dibs first

5 stars

It was amazing?

Admittedly I love sarcastic female leads with devastating one-liners, but I really liked this book. It's a fictional take on an episode in Patricia Highsmith's life, when she was anonymously writing low-grade comics while penning what would become Strangers on a Train, followed The Price of Salt, later renamed Carol.

The muted color palette works really well here: it conveys the grayness of Patricia's life very well, between her boring jobs and the rest of the world telling her she should stop being a lesbian. An occasional pop of orange signals a rare moment of excitement, and I love how Hannah Templer renders shadows in the thriller scenes, or how she mimics old comic books style to illustrate Highsmith's stories.

There's also a little mise en abyme here, that makes us realize just how far we've come since then: the story shows a lesbian …