East of Eden

Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck referred to East of Eden as "the first book" in his notebook, and it does has the underlying strength and simplicity of myth. This expansive and sometimes violent book, which is set in the wealthy Salinas Valley of California, tells the story of the entwined fates of the Trask and Hamilton families, whose generations vainly recreate the fall of Adam and Eve and the bitter rivalry between Cain and Abel.

From the East, Adam Trask traveled to California to settle on the newly fertile land and start a family. However, the arrival of his twins, Cal and Aaron, drives his wife to the verge of insanity, leaving Adam to raise his sons by himself until they reach adulthood. One youngster grows up alone, surrounded by an enigmatic darkness, while the other is fostered by the affection of everyone around him.

East of Eden, which was first published in 1952, is the book where Steinbeck developed his most captivating characters and tackled his most persistent themes: the terrible effects of love's absence, the riddle of identity, and the inexplicability of love. East of Eden, a work that is both a contemporary retelling of the Book of Genesis and a dramatic and ambitious family tale, is considered a masterpiece of Steinbeck's latter years.