East of Eden - John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck's East of Eden is perhaps his most famous novel and one I'm ashamed to have only just read. The novel is set in the Californian Salinas Valley, and documents the lives of the Trask and the Hamilton families. Steinbeck has taken inspiration from the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, to create biblical symbolism in the depiction of the intertwining of the generations in each family.

Adam Trask brings his beautiful new wife Cathy to California from the east, and with the birth of their children Aron and Cal comes a dramatic change in Cathy's behaviour. She abandons her family for a drastic new path in life, and leaves Adam to raise the boys with his friend and servant Lee, and occasional guidance of his old friend Sam Hamilton. One Trask brother is inquisitive, loving and sensitive - the other brother is brooding, dark and troubled. This leads to a smoldering rivalry between the brothers, but one which is laced with love.

The Hamilton family, with Samuel at its head, becomes connected to the Trasks across the generations and along the decades. This novel is far-reaching, ambitious and absorbing to a high degree. I didn't rush through this mammoth tale - it took me about two weeks of languishing in the syrupy, familiar warmth of Steinbeck's prose, and really savouring each word.

As I continue to enjoy Steinbeck's writing, I find myself loving his style more after each novel. I've now read this novel, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat. I'd love a recommendation of which to read next!