Editors Reads Verdict
A merciless study in the psychology of obsessive desire — David Kelsey's constructed fantasy life is both pathetic and genuinely frightening.
What We Loved
- The psychology of David's self-deception is rendered with extraordinary precision
- The double-life structure is elegantly handled
- More compassionate toward its deluded protagonist than most crime fiction
Minor Drawbacks
- David's blindness to reality can become repetitive before the crisis arrives
- Less plotted than her more famous thrillers
Key Takeaways
- → Obsession as a form of self-constructed prison
- → The danger of the man who loves too much and understands nothing
- → Fantasy as a coping mechanism that becomes a weapon
| Author | Patricia Highsmith |
|---|---|
| Publisher | W. W. Norton |
| Pages | 272 |
| Published | January 1, 1960 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Best For | Highsmith fans; readers interested in psychological portraits of obsession |
David Kelsey has arranged his life around an impossibility. During the working week he lives frugally in a boarding house, a quiet chemist at an industrial firm in upstate New York. On weekends he drives to a house he has secretly purchased — furnished to his exact specification, kept clean and waiting — that he calls Annabelle’s house, because Annabelle is the woman he loves and the house is where they will live together when she realises what he has known all along: that they belong together.
Annabelle has married Gerald Delaney. She has a child. She does not love David and never did. David knows this; but knowing it in the ordinary sense and believing it in the sense that actually governs his behaviour are entirely different things.
This Sweet Sickness is Highsmith’s most concentrated study in what she was always most interested in: the man who has constructed an alternative reality in which he is the protagonist of a different story. David is not sinister in the way Bruno (from Strangers on a Train) is sinister — he is pathetic, deluded, and genuinely dangerous in the way that people who refuse to accept reality are always dangerous. The novel’s trajectory from delusion to violence follows the internal logic of David’s psychology with terrible precision.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "This Sweet Sickness" about?
David Kelsey maintains a double life: during the week he lives in a boarding house and works as a chemist; on weekends he retreats to a house he has secretly bought and furnished for a woman named Annabelle — who doesn't love him and has married someone else. A study in erotic obsession so complete that the obsessive has replaced reality with a private fiction. One of Highsmith's most psychologically acute portraits of a particular masculine pathology.
Who should read "This Sweet Sickness"?
Highsmith fans; readers interested in psychological portraits of obsession
What are the key takeaways from "This Sweet Sickness"?
Obsession as a form of self-constructed prison The danger of the man who loves too much and understands nothing Fantasy as a coping mechanism that becomes a weapon
Is "This Sweet Sickness" worth reading?
A merciless study in the psychology of obsessive desire — David Kelsey's constructed fantasy life is both pathetic and genuinely frightening.
Ready to Read This Sweet Sickness?
Check the current price on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Prices and availability are subject to change. See Amazon for current price.
Review last updated: