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The Glass Cell (novel)The Glass Cell (1964) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. It was the tenth of her 22 novels. It addresses the psychological and physical impact of wrongful imprisonment. It appeared in both the UK and the US in 1964. When first published, the book jacket carried a warning that its opening scene is "almost unacceptable".

It was republished by W.W. Norton & Company in 2004 and by Virago in 2014.

Plot
The novel opens with a graphic scene of prison violence in which guards string a prisoner up by his thumbs. This sadistic torture leaves the man with permanent damage; in prison he manages the pain with doctor-administered morphine injections. The prisoner is Philip Carter, a sweet-natured and na�ve young engineer who has been sentenced to ten years for fraud, though he is actually innocent. After the only close friend he makes in prison is killed in a riot, Carter becomes protractedly depressed, less concerned with conscience, and more easily violent. He harbors the idea that his wife, Hazel, is having an affair with a lawyer, David, who is supposedly working to obtain a pardon for Carter. After six years, Carter is released. David helps him gain employment but, in due course, the affair is admitted and ongoing. Carter's character and personality have been so transformed by his incarceration that, when he is driven to confront those who have betrayed him, as well as those responsible for framing him, there are deadly consequences.

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