A blank they can fill in...

Did the relationship between two women bother me in The Price of Salt? Do I think this book should have been banned? The answer to both questions is no, however I was bothered by the introduction of love in this novel. At first I thought I understood Therese, and how she just didn't love Richard enough to marry him. It's like she couldn't grasp this feeling of love, she was disconnected. However soon after meeting Carol, Therese claims to be in love with her. I wasn't shocked that she could be in love with another woman, I was shocked that she could be in love with someone she just met! That one minute Therese seems so distant from her feelings and the next she is so connected to a total stranger that she calls it love. Therese did finally admit to her confusion on love and on liking another woman, which I think helped draw me back in as a reader. I was starting to feel like I couldn't connect with her or with Carol, that their relationship was weird in a way so distant from it being because they are both women. At the same time, I wanted to keep reading and I wanted to know what was going to happen between the two of them.

The book drew me in as a reader in this way I can't explain, maybe when it was published this is what instilled fear in people. Even though things in the novel confused me, I still wanted to read and maybe the confusion I got as a reader was a reflection of the confusion Therese was feeling. This one line stuck out to me that Carol said, about how Harge’s family wanted “a blank line they can fill in”. I thought it went well with the book, because a lot of things seemed to be like a blank line that the reader had to fill in. LIke the awkward new relationships between Therese and Carol, the sexual tension that seemed to fill the pages, Therese and Richard, the kiss with Danny, Abby’s relationship with Carol, just so many things that were never full explained or understood by me yet. Not sure if this is making sense, but I’m still trying to piece together my thoughts on the novel.