The Price of Salt and The Celebrants

By Vaughn Frantz Miller

The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith 

Talk about a book that has it all! Love at first sight, spy gear, a loaded gun, speeding down highways, and two women choosing each other in an era where the hope for such a future was considered nonexistent. Let me recommend Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 beloved classic The Price ofSalt.

It’s not exactly a secret that for a long time, starting in the 40’s or 50’s, gay love stories could only be published if they ended tragically: one or more of the characters had to die or end up in a straight relationship. This practice left generational scars on the psyche of a community hungry for representation and being forced to stomach the same despairing message time and time again. Such a publishing rule was especially true for lesbian pulp fiction, a genre which rarely favored lesbian authors. But one lesbian pulp novel was the miraculous exception.

“I say I love you always, the person you are and the person you will become.”

In 1952, one year before the Lavender Scare would officially begin, Patricia Highsmith dared to defy this implicit rule. A lesbian herself, she wrote a book that became treasured by women of her era: the one lesbian pulp novel with a happy ending.

This book is a wild ride! I had heard of The Price of Salt before and was aware it would end with the two women together, but still I spent most of the read wondering if what I had heard was actually true. Highsmith builds the tension and desire between these characters, keeping you wondering if it really is meant for them to work out. It does not help that Therese (pronounced Terez) starts the book off as woefully dramatic and prone to great emotional throes over her love interest’s seeming precarious moods. But over time, her feelings are recognized and affirmed by Carol and the two develop a fierce and profound love for each other.

The stakes are high for these women, particularly for Carol, who was previously married to a man and has a child. Carol’s love for Therese becomes weaponized in a way very common for the times: a means to take Carol’s child from her. It was a practice frequently used towards women who loved women for many decades, and is highlighted in this work as a plot point.

It was, and still is, critically important for gay people to see their love as something successful, something that can last. Even nowadays, many of us are cynical to the belief that we can find someone worth building with, with whom we can build a lasting relationship. I am a sucker for a gay happy ending, but even if I was not, I would still think this book is worth the read.

I personally found this book all the more interesting considering the time period in which it was written. It offered perspective both of how far we have come and also, given the overturn of Roe v. Wade, where we can end up returning. I really enjoyed reading this book and think you will too. 

The Price of Salt is available at multiple San Diego library locations.

The Celebrants – Steven Rowley

What would you say to those you loved, if you promised to leave nothing unsaid? This is the premise of Steven Rowley’s The Celebrants. Bound by a shared tragedy, five college students promise they will meet again before they die to make sure each knows how important they are to the others. Between that pact and the first one to call to meet, two of the men fall in love. The narration swaps between flashes into their marriage and the lives of the other characters.

“We aren’t meant to see everything, we weren’t meant to do everything, we weren’t capable of knowing everything. At a certain point, peace has to be found with the choices we’ve made.”

I wanted to love this book. I love the concept of seizing life, of communicating with your loved ones how firmly they are held in your heart. I love gay romance. But in too many ways, this book is painfully flat. The characters feel more like cardboard concepts with quirks or nods to a larger personality inorganically tacked on.

I did enjoy seeing the relationship with the two men blossom and felt the passion between them near the end, but most of this book felt dry. That being said, I can imagine someone enjoying this book as a thought-provoking beach read as the weather warms up.

There are many copies of The Celebrants available to borrow from the San Diego Public Libraries.