Carol
A Virago Modern Classic
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4.5 • 61 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
NOW A HUGELY ACCLAIMED, SIX-TIMES OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM STARRING CATE BLANCHETT AND ROONEY MARA
'Full of tremor and of threat and of her peculiar genius for anxiety' SUNDAY TIMES
'A document of persecuted love . . . perfect' INDEPENDENT
'Some books change lives. This is one of them' VAL MCDERMID
A groundbreaking American novel for its honest and sensitive portrayal of a lesbian couple in the 1950s, Carol is a truly remarkable story.
Therese is just an ordinary sales assistant working in a New York department store when an alluring woman in her thirties walks up to her counter. Standing there, Therese is wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. She is an awkward nineteen-year-old with a job she hates and a boyfriend she doesn't love. Carol is a sophisticated, bored suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce and a custody battle for her only daughter. As Therese becomes irresistibly drawn into Carol's world, she soon realises how much they both stand to lose.
First published pseudonymously in 1952 as The Price of Salt, Carol is a hauntingly atmospheric love story set against the backdrop of fifties New York.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We’re so glad that Todd Haynes’ gorgeous romantic drama Carol led us to revisit the groundbreaking book on which it’s based. First published in 1952 under a pseudonym due to its then-scandalous lesbian content, The Price of Salt was the second novel by Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Despite focusing on love rather than murder, Highsmith’s prose is suffused with her merciless insights into the ugliness of human behaviour. Still, she gives a hopeful conclusion to star-crossed lovers Therese Belivet and Carol Aird—inspiring generations of struggling LGBT readers to strive for happiness, no matter what hateful obstacles were placed in their paths.
