Carol and John Steinbeck

By Susan Shillinglaw,

Book cover of Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage

Book description

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. When they met at Lake Tahoe in 1928, their attachment was immediate, their personalities meshing in creative synergy. Carol was unconventional, artistic, and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Carol and John Steinbeck as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In Portrait of a Marriage, Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw beautifully brings John Steinbeck’s first wife Carol into the spotlight. The impeccably researched narrative lays out the path of a ten-year marriage doomed to fail, even as Carol shapes John into one of America’s great writers. I couldn’t put it down. 

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