Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this powerful, often shocking, story follows the intertwined destinies of two families – the Trasks and the Hamiltons – whose generations helplessly re-play the fall of Adam and Eve and the murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel. His most ambitious novel, East of Eden saw Steinbeck create some of his most memorable and extraordinary characters, and explore his most enduring and powerful themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.