East of Eden

John Steinbeck · 1902–1968 · United States

Why it matters

Two families in California's Salinas Valley replay Cain and Abel across generations, anchored by Cathy Ames, one of American fiction's purest villains. Steinbeck called it the one book all his others had been leading toward.

At a glance

A long multi-generational cast and biblical allegory add weight to otherwise clear prose.