Therese first glimpses Carol in the New York department store where she is working as a sales assistant. Carol is choosing a present for her daughter; she looks preoccupied, exuding an aura of elegance as perfect as a secret. Standing there at the counter, Therese suddenly feels wholly innocent - wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. Therese was nineteen, and loved by a young man she cared about, but could not desire. Carol was a sophisticated married woman. Now Therese seemed to have no other purpose to her life other than their meeting First published under a pseudonym in 1952, Carol is a love story told with compelling wit and eroticism, and consummate tenderness.
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'A document of persecuted love ... perfect' Independent 'About the pursuit of love, and true happiness ... It has characters who laugh, and who laugh without scorn or illusion ... very recognisably Highsmith, as full of tremor and of threat and of her peculiar genius for anxiety' Sunday Times 'Gently exploratory, genuinely moving' Mail on Sunday 'An original, honest novel, a remarkable imaginative achievement by any standard ... compelling' Financial Times
About the Author
Patricia Highsmith is the author of classics such as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr Ripley. Born in Texas, she spent much of her life in England, France and Switzerland. She died in 1995 in Locarno, Switzerland.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The year is 1950-something. New York city. The scene is the toy department of Frankenberg's. Therese Belivet is staring into space, her toe is bleeding, her career in stage designing is nowhere near Broadway, she is not in love with her boyfriend, she has no family. Then she meets the completely mesmerising Mrs H. F. Aird, first name Carol, a customer looking at dolls as a present for her daughter. Therese attends her with as much professionalism as she can muster, but her heart is lost and when the woman has disappeared behind closed lift doors, she takes a chance and writes a Christmas card. Carol calls her to say thank you then proceeds to invite the impressionable Therese for lunch.
What happens next is a true adventure of the heart. It is as much as a growing up tale, as it is a love story. Carol is the divorced older woman who is given a chance to completely break free and throw caution to the wind. Therese is the young girl who has no real past but chances for an uncertain future with what may possibly be true love. Together, they give in to their desires: they answer the questions of their heart fully and unashamedly. But all is not well, and the fragility of love is put through the test of seperation and persecution.
The novel, initially published as A Price of Salt in 1951, is as undeniable read. In my opinion, it's a beautiful book to read on a rainy day, curled up in bed. It's carless and passionate. There's an amazing trip taken into the American heartland. It calls out to the adventurer and lover in us all. Give it a chance and take the trip down the heady and bubbly road of what we dare call love.
What happens next is a true adventure of the heart. It is as much as a growing up tale, as it is a love story. Carol is the divorced older woman who is given a chance to completely break free and throw caution to the wind. Therese is the young girl who has no real past but chances for an uncertain future with what may possibly be true love. Together, they give in to their desires: they answer the questions of their heart fully and unashamedly. But all is not well, and the fragility of love is put through the test of seperation and persecution.
The novel, initially published as A Price of Salt in 1951, is as undeniable read. In my opinion, it's a beautiful book to read on a rainy day, curled up in bed. It's carless and passionate. There's an amazing trip taken into the American heartland. It calls out to the adventurer and lover in us all. Give it a chance and take the trip down the heady and bubbly road of what we dare call love.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was one of the most moving and thought provoking love stories of first love, I have ever read. It is totally immaterial that this is a lesbian love story as it could be a love story for any age or any time. But perhaps it is particularly brave because of the time when it was written and the context in which this was written. It is also a story of obsession, and a story of absent parental love and the effect that it has on the life of the main character - Therese and the tough choices she eventually makes. This is not a cliche ridden story, and has many facets, examining the effect that love for a member of ones own sex has upon what was then perhaps the typical male of the era (early fifties) when this was written. For a lonely young woman living alone in a world of what appears to be 'happy families' around her, tough decisions are made that affect not just her life but the lives of others too. It was extremely hard for me to put this book down, reading long into the night and savouring every line. As with all really good books, I was very sorry when I reached the end, despite reading as slowly as possible to spin the story out! If you wish to read a love story with a happy ending against the odds - then this is for you. Doubtless I shall return to this book many times. I do feel that I must mention here, this was only the second book of Patricia Highsmith's that I have read.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
For those familiar with Highsmith's more renowned tales of murder and intrigue, this has a refreshingly different theme, quite starkly autobiographical, and rather brave for the times it was written in. This was only her second novel, but already her distinctive style was already established - a crisp, compelling and no-nonsense style of writing that sets it apart.
Young Therese meets Carol, a customer at the doll department in Frankenbergs where she works. This fleeting encounter is described by Therese as a vision, a sudden realisation of one's desires in another. In this story, she and Carol meet, become friends and later on, become lovers during a road trip they take together right across America.
It is a very sensitively written portrayal of love, at a time when such relationships were considered degenerate and as Highsmith said herself, most fiction pertaining to the subject ended in dissolution and tragedy. Here was a refreshing outlook to a previously controversial subject, and her treatment of it was bold and wonderfully low-key, tasteful and un-sensationalist. For that reason, I think it deserves the 5 stars. I also like the depiction of personal revelations of love, which do not consider the usual, hackneyed questions of "Is this perverse?" but then later on, goes on to challenge the perceptions of the world and so-called respectable society.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book
I read this a few years ago and loved it so much I bought it for my girlfriend. It is such a moving story, and one that I think everyone can relate to on some level. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Smurfette
4.0 out of 5 stars
book
someone recommend this to me
just started to read it so can't give a full review
what i have read is very interesting and a moving story
just started to read it so can't give a full review
what i have read is very interesting and a moving story
Published 4 months ago by Cat
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ahead of it's time!
Bearing in mind the year this book was written, it was well ahead of its time - the author was obviously worldly wise. A beautifully written and heart moving book - brilliant! Read more
Published 16 months ago by Bolt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Many ways ahead of its time
Carol was first published in 1952, under a pseudonym, Claire Morgan, and with the less than riveting title The Price of Salt. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2011 by Mr Creepy
4.0 out of 5 stars
carol
I loved this book. i thought it was beautifully written and proved that sexual content does not have to be xplicit to be provocative. Highly recommended
Published on 7 Aug 2010 by Nicky Dorrian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dramatic feelings
Carol is a book that has been on my list of book I want to read for a long time, and luckily I wasn't disappointed. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by Lou Ice
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lady Lovers? Yes please.
I loved this book, the writing style is just so good and so finely tuned that i just had to keep reading. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2010 by JennyD
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great
I really enjoyed this book. A love story without turning it into erotica which was refreshing. Be aware that this is the same book as "The Price of Salt" just with a different... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2008 by SJ
4.0 out of 5 stars
oh Carol...
It was slow going at the beginning as I had to come to grips with Ms Highsmith's style of writing but once I got into it the story became rather enjoyable. Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2007 by RD
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passionate, haunting and - surprisingly - optimistic
A wonderful book. Knowing (but not liking all that much) some of Highsmith's other work I had certain reservations about this book. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2006 by dcgirls
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