"The Time at Discove": John Steinbeck in Somerset

Discove Cottage Today.

Photograph courtesy of David Laws

"Bruton is the only spot in the world I have refused to see again since John died."

—Elaine Steinbeck¹

Elaine Steinbeck's comment in a 1992 letter to artist Betty Guy refers to the ancient market town in Somerset, England, where she and her husband John Steinbeck lived while he worked on his "reduction of Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur to simple readable prose without adding or taking away anything" (Steinbeck, Life in Letters 540).

Steinbeck became fascinated with the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table after his Aunt Molly Martin presented him with a child's version of the epic tales of chivalry and knighthood on his ninth birthday. With his sister Mary, he created a secret language based on Malory's text, and they played among the exotic turrets of Castle Rock in Corral de Tierra near Salinas as their imaginary Camelot. Arthurian themes appeared in Cup of Gold, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, and many other writings.

He began the Arthur project in earnest after completing The Short Reign of King Pippin IV in 1957. The work went through numerous false starts and consumed him for much of the rest of his life. As late as 1965, a letter to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. says, "Perhaps you will remember that for at least thirty-five years and maybe longer, I have been submerged in research for a shot at the timeless Morte d'Arthur. Now Intimations of Mortality warn me that if I am ever going to do it, I had better start right away, like next week" (Steinbeck, Life in Letters 822).

Ultimately Steinbeck failed in his quest. Two unfinished draft manuscripts survive; one created in Somerset, the second written some years after his return. Initially concerned that it would detract from his reputation, Elaine relented, agreeing to posthumous publication when she realized that her husband had incorporated references to his love for her into the work. Edited by Chase Horton (owner of the Washington Square Bookstore in New York and a friend of his agent Elizabeth Otis), The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights: from the Winchester Manuscripts of Thomas Malory and Other Sources appeared in 1976. The volume includes an extensive appendix drawn from the author's letters and journals.

In this correspondence the writer describes the heights of elation and the depths of despair he experienced while pursing his search for artistic perfection. One unwavering theme is the sense of joy and contentment in the simple lifestyle he enjoyed during the months spent researching and writing in Discove Cottage near Bruton in 1959.

Biographies by both Benson and Parini recount Elaine's recollection of a conversation with her husband during his final hours. He asked her "What's the best time we ever had together?" "The time at Discove," they agreed (Benson 1035). Parini elaborates: "'It was hard to leave England at that time,' Elaine recalls, 'John had discovered something about himself in Discove Cottage'" (Parini 416).

Elaine Steinbeck never returned to Discove. She remained friendly with Mrs. Kay Leslie, who owned the cottage, and visited the Leslies several times after they sold it to Mr. and Mrs. David Whigham in 1977 and moved to London. Perhaps recalling her husband's disappointing return to Monterey in Travels with Charley, she did not wish to disturb the memories of their idyllic sojourn in that humble rural cottage.

During 1957 and 1958 the Steinbecks had sailed to Europe in search of original material. John researched in the Vatican libraries in Rome because he believed Sir Thomas Malory had traveled to Italy as a mercenary. In England they met with Professor Eugene Vinaver, a scholar and authority on the fifteenth century, and toured many Arthurian locations across the country, including Glastonbury in Somerset, the heart of King Arthur Country. Here stage and screen writer Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago), who taught English at nearby Millfield school, introduced them to other ancient...