Looking forward to film Carol.

The film Carol is scheduled to come out in November, so I’ve not seen it, but I am looking forward to it. It is based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, the same author who wrote Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. I recommend the novel. Highsmith has a simple prose style, but with everyday language and relatively short sentences, she manages to evoke vivid images and feelings.

Therese is a young woman of 19 and just starting her adult life in early 1950s New York. She works in a department store and is dating a young man named Richard. One day in December, Therese sees an older woman doing some Christmas shopping in the store. Therese is instantly drawn to the woman, and she ends up waiting on her. The woman wants her packages delivered, so she fills out a form with her name and address. Therese goes so far as to copy the address and sends Carol a Christmas card. It’s an odd thing to do, but it leads to the two women meeting and getting to know one another.

Therese experiences intense longing for the woman, but she’s young, and it’s the 1950s, so she doesn’t understand that she’s attracted and falling in love.