Caroline Starr Balestier Kipling (December 31, 1862 – December 19, 1939), also known as Carrie, was the American-born wife of Rudyard Kipling and the custodian of his literary legacy after his death in 1936.

[1] Balestier was born in Rochester, New York, to a prominent local family with a reputation for being unconventional.

[2][3] Her paternal grandfather, whose French ancestors were from Martinique, was a founder of the Century Association; her maternal grandfather was E. Peshine Smith, who with Commodore Perry completed commercial negotiations with Japan.

The bride was given away by Henry James who exclaimed "It’s a union of which I don’t forecast the future.

[5] The Kiplings eventually settled in England, in rural Burwash in the county of Sussex.