Bernard Herrmann’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Description

The lesbian love story that broke every rule — and got a happy ending anyway. The Price of Salt (1952) — published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan — is Patricia Highsmith’s tenderest novel: Therese Belivet, a young shopgirl, falls for the elegant Carol Aird — and the two women flee across America, pursued by a detective hired by Carol’s husband.

Revolutionary for its time — a lesbian romance that refused tragedy — the novel drew on Highsmith’s own life and became a lifeline for generations of readers. The prose is luminous, the longing palpable, the road-trip chapters among the most romantic in American fiction, luminous with longing.

Later republished as Carol and filmed to great acclaim, this remains a landmark: proof that Highsmith’s genius extended far beyond suspense. For romance readers and literary history buffs: essential, beautiful, brave — a landmark of queer literature and a classic of American romance.

Some film scores accompany a movie — this one haunts it. Bernard Herrmann’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir: A Film Score Guide by David Cooper takes you inside the making of the score Herrmann himself considered his finest: the sweeping, romantic music for the 1947 classic The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison.

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Part of the Scarecrow Film Score Guide series, this book explores Herrmann’s career in general and the specific craft behind this score in particular — how the composer conjured sea-mist, longing, and the supernatural with orchestra alone. Whether you are a film music devotee, a student of composition, or simply someone who has never forgotten that melody, you will find this guide as fascinating as the film it celebrates.

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An essential companion for lovers of classic Hollywood cinema and one of the greatest composers ever to write for the screen. A must for your digital shelf.

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