Theodor Broch, the Exiled Mayor of Narvik, Norway
An essay in the Spring 2020 issue of Steinbeck Review suggests a previously unacknowledged source for the setting, situation, and cast of John Steinbeck’s 1942 novella-play The Moon Is Down. Theodor Broch, the exiled mayor of Narvik, Norway—a shipping hub for Swedish iron ore on its way to wartime Germany—escaped the Nazi invaders of his strategically important town shortly after they defeated Norwegian, British, and French defenses in June of 1940. Broch fled to the United States, where he became a media celebrity, lecturing on behalf of the Norwegian resistance and publishing a book-length account of the occupation, The Mountains Wait, within months of The Moon Is Down. For the full story, subscribe to Steinbeck Review, the official journal of Steinbeck scholarship published biannually by San Jose State University and Penn State University Press.
About Administrative Team
