Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage

by Susan Shillinglaw

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 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. 

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2013

Reviews

[Junius · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this to be one of the most frustrating, misleading and biased books I have ever read. The lead-in to the book at the top of this Goodreads intro gives a hint to the mindset of author Susan Shillinglaw when she wrote the book. There she states "Carol’s story is all too familiar: a creative and intelligent woman subsumes her own life and work into that of her husband." I should have been warier after reading that line. While several of the individual facts that the author uses as the basis of her analysis of the man and his work are true, as he freely admits in his personal letters (later made public), the whole tapestry woven from these facts feels biased, distorted. Yes, she did suggest the Grapes of Wrath name (a brilliant suggestion), and she did impact his personal life as husbands and wives do. But Shillinglaw made me feel like Carol made the man; named his books, motivated his work, built his character, triggered his interest in the downtrodden farmworkers, as if he was helpless; that none of his work would have happened without her. Carol's contributions seemed exaggerated, and his skills, wisdom and motivation minimized. If Shillinglaw was even close to accurate, one would be amazed that John could write East of Eden or Cannery Row without carol's support years after they had divorced.

I’ve read all of Steinbeck’s works multiple times over the years, including his many journals and letters to friends and editors written daily while he was writing his novels, and I must say that Shillinglaw’s book simply does not ring true.

[Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the first wife of an author who's continued fame and relevance could be questioned?

Yet, while I was recovering from surgery it was a good fit--some information, but not taxing, and if I missed a few things, no big deal.

Carol Steinbeck--and we get a sense of her even though the author must provide an image with no diaries and no letters for most of the years--is an untamed woman. Clearly, she was important to John and his ability to become a successful writer. ITs the whole needed an assistant that everyone really needs, that happens here. Carol is that assistant.

After spending the book with Carol, one wants to like her, but it seems that she was a harsh person to those close to her--even being mean to the nice third husband who sticks with her for thirty years.

Also pretty clear why Steinbeck was pulled away from the rough and tumble Carol for the beauteous Gywn, though as that happens in the book the reader wants to shake Steinbeck and say--"have an affair with Gywn, but don't kid yourself that she will stay married to you!"

This book is also fun because Ed Ricketts appears often in it--he sounds like the guy everyone would want to have in his bohemian social circle.

And there is more here of John's adoration of Pacific Grove.

[Brian Melchers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book has much original research. It is an interesting look at both Carol and John Steinbeck’s lives and what made their marriage work and not work. They seemed to be at their most cohesive when they were working together to make ends meet and to write The Grapes of Wrath.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What fun they had drinking and carousing and enjoying their youth in Tahoe and Cannery Row. And then lives change.

[Maleah Grover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling story about carol Steinbeck’s without whom early books might not have been written, certainly in such a readable way.

[Carla_58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Carl Rollyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shillinglaw's dual portrait joins a growing number of books in recent years exploring the lives of wives who performed important roles in the careers of their writer/artist husbands. Steinbeck acknowledged his then-wife's contribution in the dedication to The Grapes of Wrath: "To Carol, who willed this book." As former director of the Center for Steinbeck Studies and editor/author of many books about Steinbeck, Shillinglaw (San Jose State Univ.) is perfectly placed to write with sensitivity and authority about the sources of Steinbeck's achievement. Unconventional and creative, Carol Henning Steinbeck nevertheless subsumed herself in her husband's career; the two parted company when Steinbeck no longer viewed her as an inspiration for his work. Drawing on Carol Henning Steinbeck's own poetry and her other works of art, along with scrapbooks and manuscripts, Shillinglaw presents the first comprehensive portrait of this dynamic couple. Scholars will benefit from the extensive notes and bibliography; others will particularly appreciate the selection of photographs, some of them especially candid and revealing.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the subject of this book, and was involved with the way the author presented one of my favorite authors. I was only distracted because I was also reading a fantasy book at the same time and the two worlds were to much of opposites. But overall I liked this book and would revisit it again on a sunny afternoon.

[Lawrence Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about the complicated and troubled marriage of Carol and John Steinbeck. I enjoyed this as biography , but also enjoyed reading about the bohemian milieu that was around in California in the twenties and thirties.