East of Eden

The Salinas Valley in California, with its rich farmland and dry hills, is home to two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, whose generations seem fated to replay the oldest stories we have: the fall from Eden and the bitter rivalry of Cain and Abel. Steinbeck called it the story of his country and the story of himself, and the Hamiltons are drawn from his mother's own family.

It is a long, often brutal novel, but a generous one. It asks where identity comes from, why love lands where it does, and what becomes of people who grow up without it. Its fathers and sons, and the brothers caught between them, are among the most vivid characters Steinbeck ever wrote. For anyone who wants a big American novel that wrestles honestly with whether we can choose who we become.