‘There is only one book to a man’ Steinbeck wrote of East of Eden . Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the interwined destinies of two families – the Trasks and the Hamiltons – whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes- the mystery of indentity; the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.