The Price Of Salt By Patricia Highsmith May 2026

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

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

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 Essential Reading/Viewing The story follows , a stage

Much of the tension arises from the disparity between Therese’s working-class struggle and Carol’s mid-century luxury [1]. where queer characters were typically punished

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].

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

Highsmith based the character of Carol on a blonde woman in a mink coat she saw while working at Bloomingdale’s during the 1948 Christmas rush [2, 5]. 2. Plot Summary