Capital City

First published in the dark days immediately before World War II, "Capital City" is Mari Sandoz's angriest and most political novel. Like many important American novels of the 1930s - John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", John Conroy's "The Disinherited", Robert Cantwell's "Land of Plenty" - "Capital City" depicts the troubles and responses of working people trapped in the Great Depression. It is a unique portrayal of the depression in the Great Plains, and a study of the forces that bitterly contended for wealth and power. Sandoz researched the daily life and behind-the-scenes operations of several state capitals in the thirties before drawing them together in this novel, part allegory, part indictment, part warning.Famous for her passionate writing, Sandoz gave "Capital City" the full measure of ferocity and rage. 'The violence in this new novel is almost unrelieved by any sweetness and light...This novel is strong meat; not at all for the squeamish' - "Saturday Review of Literature".