The Price of Salt (Carol) | How The Book Was Born

Описание: Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, later republished as Carol, began with a brief encounter at Bloomingdale’s in 1948. While working a holiday shift in the toy department, Highsmith helped a woman in a mink coat, an interaction that lingered with her long after the customer walked away. That moment became the seed of a novel she wrote under a pseudonym at a time when lesbian stories were censored, dismissed, or forced into tragic endings.

In this first episode of How the Book Was Born, we'll trace the real history behind The Price of Salt: the circumstances of its writing, the cultural pressures of queer life in the 1950s, Highsmith’s careful revision process, and the book’s unusual refusal to punish its characters.

We explore the novel’s early reception and how the story eventually became Todd Haynes’ 2015 film Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

If you're curious about LGBTQ literary history, the evolution of lesbian pulp fiction, or the hidden origins of influential books, this deep dive offers a detailed look at how The Price of Salt came into the world.

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Topics in this video:
Patricia Highsmith • The Price of Salt • Carol • queer literature history • lesbian pulp fiction • 1950s censorship • LGBTQ publishing • 1950s queer culture • Todd Haynes Carol • Phyllis Nagy • literary history