Patricia Highsmith Comics. When Highsmith wrote the psychological thriller novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1955), one of the title character's first victims is a comic-book artist named Reddington: "Tom had a hunch about Reddington. He was a comic-book artist. He probably didn't know whether he was coming or going." Highsmith's first novel, "Strangers on a Train", proved modestly successful upon publication in 1950, and Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 film adaptation of the novel enhanced her reputation. Highsmith's second novel, "The Price of Salt", was published in 1952 under the "nom de plume" Claire Morgan. Highsmith mined her personal life for the novel's content.
Phyllis Nagy Royal Court Theatre in January 1998, in a co-production with "The Foundry"; and "The Talented Mr. Ripley", adapted from the novel by Patricia Highsmith which premiered at the Watford Palace Theatre, in October 1998, and later produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company in February 1999. Her version of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" was produced at Chichester Festival Theatre in the summer of 2003. In 2005, Nagy directed a production of "The Scarlet Letter" at the same venue. Nagy wrote the screenplay for "Carol", an adaption of the 1952 Patricia Highsmith novel "The Price of Salt" (later republished under the title