The Price of Salt (1952)

"It was an evening Therese would never forget, and unlike most such evenings, this one registered as unforgettable while it still lived. It was a matter of the bag of popcorn they shared, the circus, and the kiss Carol gave her back of some booth in the performers' tent. It was a matter of the particular enchantment that came from Carol... and seemed to work on all the world around them, a matter of everything going perfectly, without disappointments or hitches, going just as they wished it to."

Often, works that are described as “groundbreaking” on their initial release lose their edge as the years. They pave the way for other work, work that goes further and, as such, they can end up seeming almost quaint from the distance of a few decades. This is not the case with The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith’s novel (written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan) about a relationship between two women. Frank and unapologetic, it remains a compelling read.

It begins with a look, when Therese spots Carol across a department store floor. It’s a new sensation for Therese and she pursues it blindly, stumbling into it without entirely knowing what to expect. Carol, older and married with a child, is more relaxed and more experienced; she’s cooler and more in control of herself and the situation. What begins as a highly charged friendship officially blossoms into more as the two embark on a cross country trip together. By the time they realize that they’re being pursued by a private investigator hired by Carol’s husband, it’s too late; they’re in too deep and the PI has had ample opportunity to gather evidence. Carol finds herself in the position of having to choose between Therese and her daughter and Therese embarks on a painful journey of self discovery.

Highsmith’s style is efficient and to the point, but not without grace. There are passages of great narrative power and the relationship between Therese and Carol is layered and complex. Though there is always an erotic undercurrent to the way Therese and Carol interact, in the beginning there is also an unmistakeable maternal element. Carol treats Therese almost like a child (her own child, perhaps, from whom she is separated) and Therese submissively accepts it, allowing Carol to slip into the role that Therese’s own mother forfeited. Part of Therese’s journey involves shedding her childlike persona and becoming someone who can relate to Carol adult to adult. This transition paves the way for the novel’s happy ending, the first of its kind in stories dealing with queer themes, and makes it all the more resonant. I first read the book about a year ago and it remains just as achingly compelling on the second read, which I find is only rarely the case with books. Simply put, it's a great work that deserves to be rediscovered by readers.