The Price Of Salt-An Appreciation

Today was a magnificent day,

in Montreal,

sunny and clear, clear skies,

The Habs won,

sales were good,

and my hormones are in their good stage.

Fist Pump:-)

Even Though,

I was busy,

which is,

let me be perfectly clear,

a good thing,

I managed to finish,

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith.

A good book,

a damn good book.

I don’t really do reviews,

as you know,

more appreciations,

both Amy and Cass,

of Amy Reads and Bonjour, Cass respectively,

will be reviewing,

they are on my blog roll and I’ll let you know when they post,

I read this book as part of the GLBTQ Challenge,

I’ve been wanting to read this book for years.

It was published in 1952 by The Naiad Press,

a legendary lesbian publishing company.

Highsmith published this book under a,

nom de plume, Claire Morgan.

A beautifully written novel,

and since Highsmith,

went on to be a queen of the noir genre,

you feel the tension,

you know,

the does she, doesn’t she tension.

real erotic tension,

that’s what I felt.

A sexy and serious novel,

about love.

If you are looking for,

some explicit love scenes,

keep looking,

this is a novel about being in love,

for the first time.

How wonderful it is,

how scary it is.

Therese Belivet,

is a young aspiring set designer,

she meets Carol Aird,

a thirty something married woman.

For Therese it is immediate,

love at first sight.

The recognition of Carol,

as,

exactly who she needs.

Therese is a wonderfully innocent character,

so young,

not naive, not blind,

a little scared but,

courageous.

Carol is a cool customer,

or so we think,

at first,

a sophisticated older woman.

Therese is under her spell from the beginning,

The dusky and faint smell of her perfume came to Therese again, a smell suggestive of dark green silk, that was her alone, like the smell of a special flower. Therese leaned closer towards it, looking down at her glass. She wanted to thrust the table aside and spring into her arms, to bury her nose in the green and gold scarf that was tied close to her neck.

This is their first date,

second meeting,

the kid

has got it,

bad.

Takes a good writer to get,

your blood pumping with so little,

the use of language is amazing.

Carol is confident but,

far from aggressive,

she let’s Therese decide.

These women want and love each other.

It was brave to write this in 1952,

the love that dare not speak it’s name era.

A very satisfying read,

there is tension,

sexual,

societal,

familial,

but, ultimately,

there is hope of,

 love,

being worth the sacrifices,

being worth transcending,

what others think.

It’s about finding and fighting for what you need.

Very good.

Well worth any one’s time.

I still haven’t absorbed it all.

I hope I gave you a taste for it.

Later girls,

BB

Do you believe in love at first sight?

 Love- in a world where carpenters get resurected,—-Anything is possible–Eleanor of Aquitaine.

I posted this quote before,

it can stand repeating.

I am reading The Price Of Salt,

it is fabulous,

so far,

I am about one hundred pages in.

The first twenty pages or so,

are work,

but,

on page twenty eight, 

you get this:

Their eyes met at the same instant. Therese glancing up from a box she was opening, and the woman just turning her head so she looked directly at Therese. She was tall and fair, her long figure graceful in the fur coat that she held open with a hand on her waist. Her eyes were grey, colourless, yet dominant as light or fire, and caught by them, Therese could not look away.

In the words of,

the immortal Jackie Gleason,

and a way we go!!

Highsmith had me,

I needed to know,

what would happen.

I’m not finished,

probably tomorrow,

if I decide,

I want to sleep tonight:-)

The reason I mention it is,

I want to ask you all,

 a question,

Do you believe in love at first sight?

In the true spirit of sisterhood,

I’ll tell you what I think.

I believe,

I sure do,

absolutely,

not a doubt in my mind.

This perhaps strikes you as,

being in contradiction with,

that stuff I wrote,

 months ago,

about kindness,

being more important than looks.

I’ll tell you girls,

I stand behind both,

statements.

Kindness is more important than looks,

ultimately,

and in the long run.

But, Love at first sight,

isn’t about looks,

it’s about,

chemistry.

Of course,

you should be weary of me,

discussing chemistry,

I never took high school chemistry,

and,

my love life is hapless,

but,

my credentials as a hopeless romantic?

Impecable!!

I believe in a stranger across a crowded room,

some enchanted evening:-)

who in fact isn’t a stranger,

but,

the ONE.

It’s never happened to me,

it may never happen to me,

but,

I believe it can.

Later girls,

BB