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The Tolbeckens of Delaware were more than one of America's richest and most powerful families. They represented a way of life, dignified, impregnable, rooted in tradition. But, in the turbulent first decades of the twentieth century, a new generation of Tolbeckens - reckless, hard-drinking, adulterous - threatened everything the fine, old name stood for.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Shellabarger
70 books45 followersAKA:
John Esteven
Peter Loring
Samuel Shellabarger was an American educator and author of both scholarly works and best-selling historical novels. He was born in Washington, D.C., on 18 May 1888, but his parents both died while he was a baby. Samuel was therefore raised by his grandfather, Samuel Shellabarger, a noted lawyer who had served in Congress during the American Civil War and as Minister to Portugal. Young Samuel's travels with his grandfather later proved a goldmine of background material for his novels.
Shellabarger attended private schools and in 1909 graduated from Princeton University, where he would later teach. After studying for a year at Munich University in Germany, he resumed his studies at Harvard University and Yale University. Despite taking a year off to serve in World War I, he received his doctorate in 1917. In 1915 he married Vivan Georgia Lovegrove Borg whom he had met the year before during a vacation in Sweden. They had four children, but the two boys died: one as an infant and the other serving in World War II. Shellabarger himself died of a heart attack in Princeton, New Jersey, on 21 March 1954.
Having already published some scholarly works and not wanting to undermine their credibility by publishing fiction, Shellabarger used pen names for his first mysteries and romances: "John Esteven" and then "Peter Loring." He continued to write scholarly works and to teach, but his historical novels proved so popular that he soon started using his own name on them. Some of them were best-sellers and were made into movies.
John Esteven
Peter Loring
Samuel Shellabarger was an American educator and author of both scholarly works and best-selling historical novels. He was born in Washington, D.C., on 18 May 1888, but his parents both died while he was a baby. Samuel was therefore raised by his grandfather, Samuel Shellabarger, a noted lawyer who had served in Congress during the American Civil War and as Minister to Portugal. Young Samuel's travels with his grandfather later proved a goldmine of background material for his novels.
Shellabarger attended private schools and in 1909 graduated from Princeton University, where he would later teach. After studying for a year at Munich University in Germany, he resumed his studies at Harvard University and Yale University. Despite taking a year off to serve in World War I, he received his doctorate in 1917. In 1915 he married Vivan Georgia Lovegrove Borg whom he had met the year before during a vacation in Sweden. They had four children, but the two boys died: one as an infant and the other serving in World War II. Shellabarger himself died of a heart attack in Princeton, New Jersey, on 21 March 1954.
Having already published some scholarly works and not wanting to undermine their credibility by publishing fiction, Shellabarger used pen names for his first mysteries and romances: "John Esteven" and then "Peter Loring." He continued to write scholarly works and to teach, but his historical novels proved so popular that he soon started using his own name on them. Some of them were best-sellers and were made into movies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 4, 2012
An emotional read that takes you into the lives of the Tolbecken family. This novel spans from the late 1800's until 1920. Although this is a family saga,starting with Judge Tolbecken, it is the love story between Jared Tolbecken and Clarice Lehman that grips the reader. It grabs your heart, tightens your chest, and then breathes life back into you in the end. Wonderful.
October 8, 2021
Great book! There was so much happening in this book that it would be difficult to explain a century of events to another reader. However, if you're interested in early 20th-Century historical fiction, this is a magnificent read.
I loved most of the characters except, perhaps, Nan and Agnus, but they received their comeuppance and that was satisfying. I could relate to the entire family of the Tolbeckens of Delaware--their breeding especially--and "Da-vid" who became a true voice of reason as a good friend to Jarad Tolbecken when he was feeling suicidal at the end.
But progress, I can do without. Buying up estates for the sole purpose of tearing them down (trees and all) in order to put up a parking lot makes me a little angry. And WWI was really as bad as Vietnam--there was no closure--there never is. But I learned a lot about Woodrow Wilson as President of Princeton and then later as President of the U.S. during WWI.
I think these older books are so much better researched than the books of the 21st-Century, and they aren't formulaic and serialized which can be boring.
I loved most of the characters except, perhaps, Nan and Agnus, but they received their comeuppance and that was satisfying. I could relate to the entire family of the Tolbeckens of Delaware--their breeding especially--and "Da-vid" who became a true voice of reason as a good friend to Jarad Tolbecken when he was feeling suicidal at the end.
But progress, I can do without. Buying up estates for the sole purpose of tearing them down (trees and all) in order to put up a parking lot makes me a little angry. And WWI was really as bad as Vietnam--there was no closure--there never is. But I learned a lot about Woodrow Wilson as President of Princeton and then later as President of the U.S. during WWI.
I think these older books are so much better researched than the books of the 21st-Century, and they aren't formulaic and serialized which can be boring.
May 6, 2014
In my opinion, this is probably the weakest of Shellabarger's books, also his last, but I still love the way he writes. I prefer his earlier historical fiction and while Tolbecken was somewhat of a departure from that, the portrait of the struggles of a great American family is different from anything else I have read and I enjoyed it. It is really a story about a family who prides itself on its ideals and what happens when those ideals are challenged by a changing American social landscape before and after WWI. Having been accused of being somewhat of an idealist myself at times, I found this book to be both depressing and uplifting as the characters grappled with their inner demons and purpose in life. Good stuff
February 17, 2025
I read this book the first time when it came out in 1956 I loved it so much I read it again every summer for several years.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews