A Garden of Good and Evil: East of Eden

Purchase East of Eden

Published in 1952, John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is a bold, sprawling novel that stretches across generations, landscapes, and moral questions. Set in California’s Salinas Valley, the story weaves together two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose lives mirror the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. But more than a retelling of that story, East of Eden is a deep exploration of the human soul, and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Steinbeck, who called this his “magnum opus,” creates characters that are flawed, complicated, and deeply human. At the heart of the novel is the idea of “timshel,” a…