The price of salt

by Patricia Highsmith

276 pages

English language

Published April 6, 1991 by Naiad Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-56280-003-1
OCLC Number:: 22860658

(17 reviews)

This novel, arguably Patricia Highsmith's finest, was first published in 1952 under the pseudonym Clare Morgan. The Price of Salt tells the riveting story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between her daughter and her lover.

58 editions

LemmiSchmoeker reviewed The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith

Brave souls in a largely hostile world

4 stars

It really is a good story, with lots of emotion and great care in structuring. However, the pace is very slow, especially in the middle part where nothing much happens to either the story or the characters.

Towards the end, it seems like Highsmith lost her nerve and quickly grafted a suspense plot on her drama to be on more familiar ground. This feels a little out of place, and it completely changes the tempo of the story.

What makes it a rewarding read, in the end, is the obvious empathy Highsmith has for her characters – and their cause. They turn out to be brave souls in a largely hostile world, even if they can't win their fight, and that gives it relevance.

anna reviewed The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

how is it possible to love and to fear?

4 stars

this is how it feels to love a woman. there’s everything: the tenderness of it all, the societal pressure, the rough patches when it feels like the world is tumbling down, the unconditional love; excellent!

AnieThings reviewed Carol by Patricia Highsmith

Review of 'Carol' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Una novela con una historia magnifica. No es una novela de amor al uso (no lo digo por la tematica lesbica), si no, por que no cumple con los canones de la tipica novela romantica. Ademas añade toques de suspense que hacen que mantengas la atencion en la trama. Y los personajes estan bien construidos, te sientes cercanos a ellas.