Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage (Western Literature and Fiction Series)

Carol Henning Steinbeck, writer John Steinbeck's first wife, was his creative anchor, the inspiration for his great work of the 1930s, culminating in The Grapes of Wrath . Meeting at Lake Tahoe in 1928, their attachment was immediate, their personalities meshing in creative synergy. Carol was unconventional, artistic, and compelling. In the formative years of Steinbeck's career, living in San Francisco, Pacific Grove, Los Gatos, and Monterey, their Modernist circle included Ed Ricketts, Joseph Campbell, and Lincoln Steffens. In many ways Carol's story is all too familiar: a creative and intelligent woman subsumes her own life and work into that of her husband. Together, they brought forth one of the enduring novels of the 20th century. Writer John Steinbeck's first wife, Carol Henning Steinbeck, was his creative anchor and muse. They met at Lake Tahoe in 1928, their unconventional personalities meshing in artistic synergy. Their literary milieu in 1930s California included Modernist artists and writers such as Lincoln Steffens and Joseph Campbell. This biography reveals much about the dynamic partnership that brought forth one of the great novels of the 20th century, The Grapes of Wrath. Carol Henning Steinbeck, writer John Steinbeck's first wife, was his creative anchor, the inspiration for his great work of the 1930s, culminating in The Grapes of Wrath. In many ways Carol's story is all too familiar: a creative and intelligent woman subsumes her own life and work into those of her husband. Together, they brought forth one of the enduring novels of the twentieth century.