7 d. ago ‘You are living with a difficult person who is waiting to die’: my harrowing time as Patricia Highsmith’s assistant

I worked for the author of The Talented Mr Ripley in her final months. She was so mean and secretive, I imagined she wanted to kill meI first read Patricia Highsmith’s novels in the autumn of 1994. I was 20 and living in a room in her house in Tegna, Switzerland, that was plastered with bookshelves full of her first editions, organised in chronological order. Pat was 73 and knew she was about to die; she had been, it was rumoured, diagnosed with cancer or some other terminal disease. I was trapped in her world with her, trembling. She had weeks left to live and had spent so much time writing about how to get away with murder. I fantasised that she might try to kill me.The story of how I ended up in that house begins a few months earlier, in Zurich, with me on a blue tram, on my way to dinner at the house of Anna and Daniel Keel, a couple I’d grown friendly with. Anna was a brilliant painter for whom I had been modelling since I was 17. Her studio smelled like oil paint, instant coff...

Events

2 w. ago Government makes another concession to Labour rebels ahead of crucial vote on welfare reform bill

In a further U-turn, changes to the personal independence payment (Pip) will not take place until after a review

Politics

2 w. ago Longtime State Department spokesman, diplomat Richard Boucher, dies at 73

Richard Boucher, who served for more than a decade as spokesman for the State Department and assistant secretary of state for public affairs, has died at age 73

Events

3 w. ago Senedd denied veto over whether assisted dying becomes legal in Wales

The new bill would allow those aged over 18 and with less than six months to live to receive medical assistance to die

Events

3 w. ago MPs voting to legalise assisted dying is a momentous day for choice

The House of Commons decision to pass Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill marks a historic step towards giving people the right to make fundamental decisions about their own lives – as well as how to end them

Events

3 w. ago Voices: My husband wanted to go to Dignitas: the new assisted dying bill wouldn’t have helped him

As the right-to-die legislation passes its final Commons hurdle, Mary Dejevsky explains how it falls far short of helping those who might have been pinning their hopes on it, namely people like her late partner with chronic progressive conditions such as Parkinson’s disease

Events

3 w. ago Campaigners for and against assisted dying make feelings known at Westminster

Protesters on both sides of the debate gathered outside Parliament ahead of Friday’s crucial vote.

Events

3 w. ago Assisted dying Bill not now or never moment, says Cleverly ahead of crucial vote

Supporters and opponents of a change in the law gathered at Westminster early on Friday, holding placards saying “Let us choose” and “Don’t make docto

Politics

3 w. ago GMB's Kate Garraway makes heartbreaking admission about late husband Derek Draper

Kate Garraway has made a devastating confession about her late husband Derek Draper, who died in January 2024, as the GMB presenter discussed the Assisted Dying Bill

Events

3 w. ago Assisted dying latest: Landmark bill hangs in balance ahead of crucial MPs vote

Campaigners making final cases as MPs prepare for final reading in Commons

Politics

4 w. ago Campaigners make case for assisted dying Bill ahead of crucial Commons vote

Friday will be the first time the Bill has been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year’s historic yes vote.

Politics