East of Eden

Set in the rich farmland and dry hills of California's Salinas Valley, East of Eden follows the Trasks and the Hamiltons, two families whose generations seem fated to replay the fall of Adam and Eve and the bitter rivalry of Cain and Abel. Steinbeck described it as 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 wrote, and this Penguin edition is a sweeping choice for anyone who wants a big American novel that takes its questions seriously.