TS Eliot’s wife Vivienne died in an asylum. Steven Carroll decided to free her

Over four novels, the award-winning Australian author has picked apart Eliot and his relationships with women – but felt moved to give the poet’s first wife a happier end

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Ever since he first heard the initial stanzas of TS Eliot’s Prufrock, author Steven Carroll has had a long fascination and engagement with the poet.

“One of the very first things I ever wrote was a play about Eliot, his first marriage and the writing of The Waste Land,” says the 73-year-old Australian author. “Then I heard about a play called Tom and Viv and the production plans were shelved. But the idea stayed there.”