Department Store Drudgery

Therese Belivet, a young aspiring set designer, works a monotonous job in the toy department of Frankenberg's, a New York department store. She feels isolated and out of place, haunted by the sense that her life is passing her by in a series of meaningless routines. Her only solace comes from fleeting connections with coworkers and her boyfriend Richard, whose affection she cannot fully return. Therese's inner world is rich and restless, filled with longing for something more authentic and alive than the drab, mechanical existence she endures daily.

A Chance Encounter

During the Christmas rush, Therese meets Carol Aird, an elegant, enigmatic woman shopping for her daughter. Their brief interaction is electric, leaving Therese captivated by Carol's poise and beauty. Carol's presence disrupts the monotony of Therese's days, awakening desires and possibilities she has never dared to articulate. The encounter lingers in Therese's mind, sparking a fascination that quickly grows into obsession.

Christmas Card Connection

Unable to forget Carol, Therese impulsively sends her a Christmas card, a gesture both bold and ambiguous. To her surprise, Carol responds with a phone call, suggesting they meet for lunch. This tentative outreach marks the beginning of a relationship that will challenge both women's understanding of themselves and the world around them, as they navigate the boundaries of propriety and longing in 1950s America.

Lunch with Carol

Over lunch, Therese and Carol share personal histories, dreams, and vulnerabilities. Carol invites Therese to visit her suburban home, deepening their connection. The conversation is charged with subtext, as both women sense the potential for something transformative. Therese is drawn to Carol's confidence and warmth, while Carol is intrigued by Therese's sensitivity and youth. Their bond grows, setting them on a path that will test their courage and convictions.

Richard's Unrequited Love

Richard, Therese's boyfriend, hopes for a future with her, even planning a trip to Europe. However, Therese's feelings for Carol eclipse her affection for Richard, leaving her conflicted and guilty. Richard's inability to understand Therese's emotional distance leads to tension and heartbreak, as he struggles to accept that her heart belongs elsewhere. This subplot highlights the constraints of conventional relationships and the pain of unrequited love.

Suburban Visit, Marital Tension

Therese visits Carol's home in New Jersey, experiencing both the comfort of Carol's affection and the tension of her troubled marriage. Carol's husband, Harge, is suspicious and possessive, creating an atmosphere of unease. The visit exposes the risks and complexities of their growing intimacy, as Carol's domestic life and custody of her daughter Rindy hang in the balance. The encounter with Harge foreshadows the obstacles the women will face.

Gifts and Growing Affection

Therese and Carol exchange thoughtful gifts—Therese gives Carol a handbag, Carol gives Therese a suitcase—symbolizing their desire to be part of each other's lives. Their affection intensifies, culminating in a decision to take a road trip together. The exchange of gifts and plans for travel mark a turning point, as both women commit to exploring their feelings despite the risks.

Carol's Divorce Looms

Carol's impending divorce from Harge becomes a central conflict, with the threat of losing custody of Rindy looming over her. Harge hires a private detective to follow Carol and Therese, seeking evidence to use against her in court. The legal and social dangers of their relationship become starkly apparent, forcing Carol to choose between her daughter and her love for Therese. The stakes are raised, and the lovers' resolve is tested.

Road Trip Westward

Carol and Therese embark on a cross-country road trip, seeking freedom and privacy. The journey is both literal and metaphorical, as they traverse new landscapes and explore the depths of their connection. In the anonymity of the West, they finally consummate their love, experiencing a happiness and sense of belonging neither has known before. The road trip is a brief idyll, a space outside the constraints of society.

Pursued by Shadows

Their happiness is short-lived, as the detective's pursuit becomes more aggressive. He plants a listening device in their hotel room and confronts them on the road, threatening to expose their relationship. The intrusion of the outside world shatters their sense of safety, and Carol is forced to confront the reality that her love for Therese may cost her custody of Rindy. The lovers are driven to desperation, their future uncertain.

The Detective's Threat

Carol negotiates with the detective, buying back incriminating evidence, but the damage is done. Harge's legal team uses the threat of scandal to pressure Carol into giving up Therese. Carol is faced with an impossible choice: continue seeing Therese and risk losing her daughter forever, or end the relationship to preserve her role as a mother. The emotional toll is immense, and both women are left devastated.

Love and Loss in the West

Carol chooses to fight for Rindy, writing Therese a letter explaining her decision to end their relationship. Therese, left alone in the West, is consumed by grief and longing. She drifts through days of loneliness, working odd jobs and trying to make sense of her loss. The separation is agonizing, but it also marks a period of growth and self-discovery for Therese, who begins to find her own strength and identity.

Forced Separation

Back in New York, Therese attempts to rebuild her life, reconnecting with old friends and pursuing her career as a set designer. She is courted by others, including her friend Dannie, but finds herself unable to love anyone as she loved Carol. The memory of their time together haunts her, but she gradually comes to terms with the end of their affair, recognizing the ways it has changed her.

Letters and Longing

Therese and Carol exchange letters, each grappling with regret and longing. Carol's letters reveal the pain of her sacrifice and her enduring love for Therese, while Therese's responses are filled with yearning and unresolved emotion. The correspondence keeps their connection alive, even as they try to move forward separately. Both women are changed by their love, and the possibility of reunion lingers.

Return to New York

Therese returns to New York, determined to start anew. She pursues opportunities in theater and television, finding some professional success. A chance encounter with Carol leads to a tense but honest conversation, in which both women acknowledge the depth of their feelings and the impossibility of returning to the past. The meeting is bittersweet, but it offers closure and the hope of a different kind of future.

Reunion and Decision

At a cocktail party, Therese is courted by a glamorous actress but realizes her heart still belongs to Carol. She rushes to find Carol, who is waiting for her in a bar. Their reunion is tentative but full of possibility, as they recognize that their love endures despite everything. Therese must decide whether to risk her heart again, and the novel ends with her walking toward Carol, choosing love and authenticity over fear and convention.

A New Beginning

The story concludes with Therese and Carol reunited, their future uncertain but filled with hope. Both women have been transformed by their love and their trials, emerging stronger and more self-aware. The novel ends on a note of possibility, suggesting that love—though costly—can lead to freedom, self-acceptance, and a new beginning.

Characters

Therese Belivet

Therese is a young woman adrift in postwar New York, yearning for meaning and connection. Her psychological landscape is marked by loneliness, artistic ambition, and a deep-seated sense of otherness. Therese's relationship with Carol awakens her to her own desires and identity, catalyzing her transformation from a passive observer to an active participant in her own life. Her journey is one of self-discovery, as she learns to trust her feelings, assert her needs, and embrace the risks of love. Therese's development is subtle but profound, as she moves from uncertainty and dependence to autonomy and self-acceptance.

Carol Aird

Carol is a sophisticated, charismatic woman trapped in a loveless marriage and a bitter custody battle. She is both nurturing and guarded, shaped by the expectations of her class and era. Carol's love for Therese is passionate but fraught with danger, as she risks everything—her reputation, her child, her security—for a chance at happiness. Psychologically, Carol is complex: she is at once strong and vulnerable, capable of great tenderness and fierce self-protection. Her ultimate decision to sacrifice her relationship with Therese for her daughter reveals both her capacity for love and the constraints imposed by society.

Richard Semco

Richard is Therese's boyfriend, a kind and earnest young man who represents the safety and predictability of heterosexual norms. He is supportive of Therese's ambitions but ultimately cannot understand or fulfill her deeper needs. Richard's love is sincere but limited, and his inability to accept Therese's true self leads to frustration and heartbreak. His character serves as a foil to Carol, highlighting the difference between conventional affection and transformative love.

Harge Aird

Harge is Carol's estranged husband, driven by jealousy, pride, and a desire for control. His primary motivation is to maintain custody of their daughter, Rindy, and to punish Carol for defying social norms. Harge's actions—hiring a detective, threatening legal action—embody the oppressive forces of patriarchy and conformity. Psychologically, he is both pitiable and menacing, a man undone by his inability to accept difference and loss.

Abby Gerhard

Abby is Carol's oldest friend and former lover, providing emotional support and practical assistance throughout the story. She is pragmatic, protective, and sometimes blunt, serving as a confidante to both Carol and Therese. Abby's presence underscores the possibility of enduring friendship and the complexities of queer relationships, as she navigates her own feelings for Carol while supporting her happiness.

Rindy Aird

Rindy is Carol's young daughter, the focal point of the custody battle and the embodiment of Carol's maternal love. Though she appears only briefly, Rindy's well-being is central to Carol's decisions, representing both hope and loss. Her innocence contrasts with the adult world's cruelty, and her relationship with Carol is tender and poignant.

Mrs. Robichek

Mrs. Robichek is an older woman Therese meets at Frankenberg's, whose life of disappointment and resignation serves as a warning of what Therese might become if she remains trapped by fear and convention. Her kindness and vulnerability evoke both empathy and discomfort, highlighting the novel's themes of isolation and the longing for connection.

Dannie McElroy

Dannie is a thoughtful, gentle friend who offers Therese companionship and the possibility of a different kind of love. His scientific, rational approach to life contrasts with Therese's emotional intensity, and his presence in the story underscores the choices Therese must make about her future. Dannie's affection is genuine, but ultimately, Therese cannot reciprocate his feelings.

Phil McElroy

Phil is Richard's friend and a minor but important character who helps Therese secure her first job in theater. He represents the world of possibility and artistic ambition, providing a link between Therese's old life and her new one.

Florence

Florence is Carol's housekeeper, whose discovery and betrayal of Therese's letter to Carol becomes a turning point in the custody battle. Her actions, though not malicious, have far-reaching consequences, illustrating the dangers of secrecy and the vulnerability of queer love in a hostile world.

Plot Devices

Dual Narrative Structure

The novel employs a dual narrative structure, following both Therese's internal transformation and the external progression of her relationship with Carol. The interplay between inner and outer worlds creates a sense of intimacy and immediacy, allowing readers to experience the characters' emotional landscapes alongside the unfolding plot.

Symbolism of Gifts and Travel

Gifts exchanged between Therese and Carol—handbags, suitcases, letters—serve as tangible symbols of their growing bond and the risks they take for love. The road trip westward functions as a metaphor for escape, discovery, and the search for authenticity, while the return to New York represents the challenge of integrating love and selfhood within society's constraints.

Foreshadowing and Suspense

The presence of the detective, the threat of legal action, and the looming custody battle create an atmosphere of suspense and foreboding. Early references to isolation, missed opportunities, and the limitations of conventional relationships foreshadow the sacrifices and heartbreak to come.

Letters as Emotional Conduits

Letters between Therese and Carol serve as vehicles for confession, longing, and regret, bridging the physical and emotional distance between them. The discovery and misuse of these letters by others become pivotal plot points, illustrating the vulnerability of private love in a public world.

Mirrors and Portraits

Mirrors, photographs, and portraits recur throughout the novel, symbolizing the characters' struggles to see themselves and each other clearly. The portrait Therese encounters in Sioux Falls becomes a powerful metaphor for betrayal, self-recognition, and the pain of separation.

Analysis

The Price of Salt is a landmark novel in LGBTQ+ literature, notable for its nuanced portrayal of same-sex love and its refusal to punish its protagonists with tragedy. Through the intertwined journeys of Therese and Carol, the novel examines the tension between desire and duty, the search for selfhood, and the courage required to defy societal norms. Highsmith's narrative is both intimate and universal, capturing the exhilaration and terror of first love, the pain of loss, and the hope of renewal. The story's resolution—ambiguous yet optimistic—offers a vision of love as a force for transformation, even in the face of adversity. The Price of Salt endures as a testament to the power of authenticity, the necessity of risk, and the enduring human longing for connection and belonging.

Last updated: May 17, 2025