The Tremor of Forgery
Encyclopedia
The Tremor of Forgery is a psychological thriller
novel by Patricia Highsmith
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, so he can draw inspiration for a new movie script he's been commissioned to write. However, when the director he's working with doesn't show, he begins hearing stories from back home about infidelity and suicide
. Rather than abandon the project and leave, Howard stays in the country and starts work on a novel instead. He gets to know Francis J. Adams, an aging American propagandist and Danish homosexual painter Anders Jensen. While waiting for a letter from his New York girlfriend Ina, the plot of his projected novel comes together. It's the story of a banker who forges documents to steal money he then gives to poor people. One night, Ingham finds someone breaking into his apartment and throws his typewriter at the intruder, who is then dragged away by others. Ingham struggles to keep this possible murder secret from his acquaintances while at the same time questioning western morality and its worth in a country where he is a stranger.
Miss Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremory of Forgery, and if I were to be asked what it is about I would reply, 'Apprehension'. - Graham Greene
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
novel by Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
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Synopsis
American author Howard Ingham arrives in the sweltering heat of TunisiaTunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, so he can draw inspiration for a new movie script he's been commissioned to write. However, when the director he's working with doesn't show, he begins hearing stories from back home about infidelity and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Rather than abandon the project and leave, Howard stays in the country and starts work on a novel instead. He gets to know Francis J. Adams, an aging American propagandist and Danish homosexual painter Anders Jensen. While waiting for a letter from his New York girlfriend Ina, the plot of his projected novel comes together. It's the story of a banker who forges documents to steal money he then gives to poor people. One night, Ingham finds someone breaking into his apartment and throws his typewriter at the intruder, who is then dragged away by others. Ingham struggles to keep this possible murder secret from his acquaintances while at the same time questioning western morality and its worth in a country where he is a stranger.
Reception
Highsmith has produced work as serious in its implications and as subtle in its approach as anything being done in the novel today. - Julian SymonsJulian Symons
Julian Gustave Symons 1912 - 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.-Life and work:...
Miss Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremory of Forgery, and if I were to be asked what it is about I would reply, 'Apprehension'. - Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...