Patricia Highsmith: The Price Of Salt By

The road trip represents a temporary utopia that is eventually shattered by the legal realities of 1950s society [6]. 5. Essential Reading/Viewing

Read the 1990 edition, which includes Highsmith’s afterword about the book's reception [2].

The story follows , a stage designer working a temporary job at a department store. She becomes infatuated with Carol Aird , an elegant suburban mother undergoing a difficult divorce. Their relationship develops during a cross-country road trip, but they are pursued by a private investigator hired by Carol’s husband to gather evidence of her "moral turpitude" to win a custody battle [1, 6]. 3. Key Characters The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Highsmith focuses heavily on how Therese watches Carol—the obsession with details like gloves, perfume, and cigarettes [5].

Carol’s former lover and loyal friend, who serves as a bridge between Carol’s past and present. 4. Themes to Explore The road trip represents a temporary utopia that

It was revolutionary for its time because it defied the "tragic lesbian" trope of the 1950s, where queer characters were typically punished, killed, or "cured" by the final page [3, 4].

Young, artistic, and feeling trapped in a stagnant relationship with her boyfriend, Richard. She is the "observer" of the novel. The story follows , a stage designer working

Originally published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan because Highsmith’s publishers feared being associated with "lesbian fiction" [1, 2].