Therese first glimpses Carol in the New York department store where she is working temporarily as a sales assistant. Carol is choosing a present for her daughter; she looks preoccupied, exuding an aura of elegance as perfect as a secret. Standing there at the counter, Theres suddenly feels wholly innocent – wholly unprepared for that first rippling shock of love.
First published under a pseudonym in 1952, Carol is that rarest of stories, a gay love story with a happy ending, told with compelling wit and eroticism, and consummate tenderness.