Patricia Highsmith: the ‘Jew-hater’ who took Jewish women as lovers

A biography of the author by Richard Bradford explores the paradox at the heart of her life

She espoused vile antisemitic views, telling people she was a “Jew hater” and calling the deaths of six million Jews “the semicaust” because she was disappointed more had not been murdered in the camps.

Yet Patricia Highsmith, born 100 years ago on 19 January, conducted three of her most significant affairs with Jewish women. Two, the American Ellen Blumenthal Hill and French-born Marion Aboudaram, were the most passionate and loving of the novelist’s life.

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