Lesbian Book Review: The Price of Salt

I had The Price of Salt on my reading list for a while but thought that because it was older (published in 1952), that it could wait. However, I discovered recently that not only has it been put back in print, but that it's going to be made into a movie. Begin swooning because this lesbian movie will star two great australian actresses, Mia Wasikowska, and the amazing Cate Blanchett.

The image of Cate Blanchett dressed in a vintage Chanel suit  longing for female affection became a very happy one for me and certainly steered my imagination as I began reading this book. But we don't meet the lovely Carol (Cate's role) until later on.

The story begins with Therese, a woman in her young twenties. Therese is an orphan who recently left the convent for New York City with aspirations of becoming a theatre set designer. She is half-dating a guy who seems to think they should eventually marry, although she acknowledges that something is missing in their relationship. She is kindly navigating through life and learning from the encounters she has with people at her new job in a department store.

Enter Carol, an affluent mother from the suburbs who's come into the department store to buy a doll for her young daughter. Therese's infatuation with Carol is immediate. She is stunned by this beautiful woman and after helping her select the perfect doll is overwhelmed by the meeting. After taking down Carol's address to send the doll, she decides to send her a Christmas card as well. Carol, upon receiving the card, calls on Therese and asks to meet for a drink.

We soon learn that Carol is going through a messy divorce and custody battle with her husband Harge. This battle grows as does Carol and Therese's relationship. Soon they are taking a cross country road trip in Carol's car and sharing their feelings (and bodies) with each other. As they travel west they soon realize that they are being followed, and have been for some time. Harge has hired a private investigator to tap their hotel rooms and document their every move. He is attempting to prove in this custody case that Carol is a homosexual and therefore unfit to be a mother (remember it's 1952).

The significance of this book lies in that very battle. In most states today your sexual orientation is explicitly not an issue in a custody battle. That being said if your ex-husband wants to fight you tooth and nail and you happen to get a biased judge then you could have some trouble. But imagine being Carol, a woman who has recently come out to herself and the woman she loves but is also forced into a choice between her child or Therese. I am extremely grateful for progress.

When this book was first published in 1952 it was done so under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. The real name of the author is Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train. Highsmith herself was bisexual and her lesbian relationship with writer Marijane Meaker was written about by Meaker in Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s (now on my reading list). The Price of Salt also became famous for being the first lesbian pulp novel to have a happy ending. Read it for yourself to see if you agree..... or just wait for the movie.