SOURCE: Simmonds, Roy. “The Troubled Thirties.” In A Biographical and Critical Introduction of John Steinbeck, pp. 65-78. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000.

In the following excerpt, Simmonds elucidates the main thematic concerns of the stories in The Long Valley.

The Long Valley contains fifteen stories, most of which were written during the years 1931 through 1934. All of the stories but one are set in the Salinas Valley, the “long valley” of the title. Several of the stories are concerned with the theme of sexual conflict between men and women, and one can speculate that they may reflect aspects of Steinbeck's often uneasy and sometimes tempestuous relationship with Carol.

The one story not set in the long valley, “St. Katy the Virgin,” is an early work and may possibly date back to 1925, when Steinbeck was still attending Stanford University. In style and spirit, it is reminiscent of the sort...