In 1952, Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) is shopping at a New York department store for a Christmas present for her seven-year-old daughter. She's helped by young clerk Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara). They develop a relationship, which leads to a romantic affair.

Meanwhile, Carol's husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) desperately tries to save their marriage, even though he knows his wife's attraction to women, while Richard (Jake Lacy) hopes Therese will agree to marry him, despite her indifference towards spending her life with him.

Based on the 1952 romance novel by Patricia Highsmith, "The Price of Salt," written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan.