Ann Clare Boothe was born April 10, 1903, in New York City. Her father abandoned the family when she was eight years old, and her mother was left to support them. Despite the family's poverty, Boothe's mother managed to send Boothe to private schools, with the hopes of grooming her to marry a wealthy man.

At twenty, Boothe married forty-three-year old George Brokaw, a wealthy businessman. Six years later, she divorced Brokaw, in part because of his severe alcoholism. Boothe received a settlement from the divorce that allowed her to continue living in comfort. Her experience of a "Reno divorce" informed her later writing of The Women.

Boothe's second marriage was to Henry R. Luce, the well-known publisher of Time magazine, who later founded Life magazine. At this point, Boothe changed her name to Clare Boothe Luce. During the 1930s, Luce worked in the publishing industry as both...