The best books about the human experience during the Great Depression

A staple in high school literature curriculums, The Grapes of Wrath is probably the most-read book depicting the despair and resilience of those who experienced the Great Depression, particularly the Dust Bowl migrants. Of course, the story is beautifully written and haunting. But more than that, it is grounded in Steinbeck’s own experiences as a journalist, traveling alongside migrant workers in California. The resulting articles, published in October of 1936, informed his future writings, including The Grapes of Wrath. Without Steinbeck’s first-hand observations gathered in 1936, I doubt the book would be the masterpiece it instantly became. The final scene of this book has stuck in my mind for almost four decades, and I thought about it quite a bit as I wrote my own book about the Great Depression. In my opinion, this scene sums up the human experience in just a few lines—it is that powerful. 

The author is a sociologist who rode the rails, on and off, alongside homeless youth in the early 1930s. He did not disguise himself or pretend to be “one of them.” Instead, he chronicled their stories in oral histories that are intimate and thorough depictions of how young men and women existed on the road, what was important to them, what they yearned for, how they protected themselves, and each other. As a sociologist and chronicler of groups within society, the author remained true to his obligations as an academic not to glorify, white-wash, or romanticize what he saw. As a result, the experiential dimensions of this book are incredibly robust and meaningful.

In heartbreaking, haunting detail, the author describes the experiences of individuals, families, and communities as they endured “the worst hard time” of the Dust Bowl. What struck me most about those interviewed is not just how much they were able to remember decades later, but the ongoing raw and painful emotions generated when they recounted their stories. Put all of this alongside the author’s meticulous research and analysis of the social, economic, political, and geographical forces of the time, and you have an incredibly moving story fully grounded in historical accuracy.

I read this book when I was a graduate student studying journalism, but it has never stopped resonating with me. When I began to research my novel set in the Great Depression, I returned to Hard Times and also had the good fortune to find and listen to the recordings of Terkel’s interview subjects. This book is essentially a collection of oral histories that runs the gamut of the human condition during the Great Depression: those who had everything, those who had nothing and everyone in-between. This is “person-on-the-street” journalism at its finest. The stories are mesmerizing and the voices are authentic. That is the magic of this amazing journalist who captured the voices of the world for decades.

There are many historical novels about the Great Depression but Sold on a Monday moved me in particular. Perhaps I was drawn to it because it is a fictional account of actual circumstances. More likely, though, it is because, in one single story, Sold on a Monday is a lesson in the heart-wrenching decisions hundreds of thousands of people made to ensure their survival. As far-fetched as it sounds to us now, the notion of children being sold, or simply deposited on the front doorstep by their parents, was not uncommon during the Great Depression. The author was incredibly creative and thoughtful in the way she decided to tell the story, and that is perhaps the book’s greatest strength.