Carol - The Price of Salt characters

Appears from the start

A nineteen-year-old aspiring stage designer working temporarily in the toy department of a Manhattan department store. She feels detached from the life her boyfriend Richard imagines for them and is immediately captivated by an elegant customer who comes to her counter.

Appears from the start

Therese's boyfriend, a young painter who assumes their relationship will progress toward marriage and hopes she will travel to Europe with him. His confidence in their shared future contrasts with Therese's growing awareness that she does not return his feelings in the same way.

Appears from the start

A middle-aged seasonal coworker in the department store's toy section. Lonely and anxious, she tries to befriend Therese and offers an uncomfortable picture of the constricted working life Therese fears for herself.

First appears in chapter 2

An affluent, self-possessed woman in her early thirties who meets Therese while shopping for a Christmas present for her daughter. She is separated from her husband and living in suburban New Jersey. Her direct attention and reserve fascinate Therese from their first meeting.

Also known as Rindy

First appears in chapter 3

Carol's young daughter, for whom Carol buys a train set at Therese's counter. Though Therese does not initially meet her, Carol's devotion to Rindy and the child's place in Carol's unsettled marriage quickly become central facts in Therese's understanding of her.

First appears in chapter 5

Carol's estranged husband and Rindy's father. He wants to preserve his family and regards Carol's independence and close relationships with women as threats to both the marriage and his claim over their daughter's upbringing.

First appears in chapter 6

Carol's closest friend and a significant figure from her past. Practical, protective, and familiar with the Airds' marital conflict, Abby initially views the much younger Therese with caution.

First appears in chapter 4

A young man Therese knows through Richard's circle who takes her ambitions as a stage designer seriously. He offers professional encouragement and an alternative to the domestic future Richard expects her to accept.

First appears in chapter 4

Richard's friend and Dannie's brother, part of the social circle in which Therese has been living. His connections to theatre work help make Therese's hoped-for profession more tangible.

First appears in chapter 16

A private investigator hired to follow Carol and Therese during their journey. When the women discover his surveillance, he represents the legal and social pressure being brought to bear on Carol through her custody dispute.

First appears in chapter 22

An actress Therese meets after returning to New York and beginning professional theatre work. Sophisticated and openly interested in her, Genevieve encounters a Therese who is more independent than the young woman who first met Carol.