‘East of Eden’: Your Complete Guide to All the Relationships in the Book
Just about everyone read — or pretended to read — Of Mice and Men in high school. If you didn’t, we really recommend it. It’s a novella, it’s tiny, and there’s honestly no excuse, guys. But while Of Mice and Men remains a favorite of English teachers, it’s not actually John Steinbeck’s best book, or his magnum opus, as the more pretentious literary types might say.
Nope. That honor goes to East of Eden.
Published in 1952, East of Eden is Steinbeck’s sweeping family saga, a novel that captivated readers and cemented its place as one of his most enduring works. Now, more than 70 years later, it’s getting the Netflix limited series treatment, with Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Joseph Zada, Joe Anders, Hoon Lee, and more among the cast.
Those of us who aced high school English — cough, cough — are understandably very excited. Until we watch, we don’t know if all of these couples will be seen in the latest adaptation. But if you need a little literary refresher before the series arrives, here’s everything you need to know about who ends up with whom in the East of Eden novel. (Warning: East of Eden book spoilers ahead.)
What is East of Eden about?
The setting is basically a character in this novel, like how people say New York is the fifth character in Sex and the City. East of Eden is set primarily in California’s Salinas Valley, spanning the beginning of the 20th century through the end of World War I.
The story centers on two families: the Trasks and the Hamiltons. The Hamiltons are based on the real-life family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck’s maternal grandfather. And yes, little John Steinbeck even gives himself a cameo in the novel.
Adam Trask, newly married and flush with wealth inherited from his late father, arrives in California and settles in the Salinas Valley with his pregnant wife, Cathy Ames. The couple is joined by Lee, their Chinese American servant, and soon becomes neighbors with Samuel Hamilton, an Irish immigrant who lives with his wife, Liza.
From there, East of Eden follows the two families across generations, weaving together their lives, loves, rivalries, tragedies, and, naturally, plenty of family drama.
A guide to all the East of Eden couples
Cyrus Trask and Mrs. Trask
Cyrus is the patriarch of the Trask family, and the father of Adam and Charles. He lies his way into a powerful position in the Army administration despite being wounded during the first hour of his battlefield experience in the Civil War. He loses his leg to amputation.
Cyrus amasses a considerable fortune over his lifetime, which he leaves to his sons. That’s the money that ultimately allows Adam to move to the Salinas Valley.
We never learn Mrs. Trask’s first name. She is Cyrus’ first wife and Adam’s mother, and she’s a deeply pious woman. After Cyrus sleeps with a Black prostitute in the South during the Civil War, he contracts syphilis and passes it to his wife. Mrs. Trask dies by suicide shortly afterward.
Cyrus Trask and Alice Trask
After the death of his first wife, Cyrus marries Alice, who gives birth to Charles. Alice is a quiet, deferential woman who almost never shows emotion. One day, however, Adam catches her smiling mysteriously to herself when she thinks no one is watching.
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Alice dies while Adam is away in the Army, fighting Indigenous tribes in the West.
Mr. Edwards and Cathy
Before she meets Adam, Cathy works as a prostitute in Mr. Edwards’ profitable operation across Massachusetts and Connecticut. He presents himself as a respectable businessman with a moral wife and sons at prestigious schools.
Edwards employs Cathy and eventually falls in love with her. But after discovering her involvement in the murder of her parents, he beats her nearly to death. Cathy crawls away and ends up at the nearest farm… which happens to belong to Charles and Adam Trask.
Not quite a meet-cute.
Adam Trask and Cathy Ames
Adam falls for Cathy, and she seemingly tolerates him enough to get married. Meanwhile, his brother Charles sees Cathy for who she is and tries to warn Adam, to no avail.
Adam and Cathy move to the Salinas Valley. She’s pregnant, and without Adam’s knowledge, she has tried to abort the pregnancy with a knitting needle. She immediately warns him that she never wanted to move to California and plans to leave as soon as she can. Adam dismisses her with a breezy “Nonsense!” (Reader, I think we know what’s coming.)
Cathy gives birth to twin boys, shoots her husband, and leaves. She becomes a prostitute at the most respectable brothel in Salinas, renames herself “Kate Albey,” ingratiates herself with the madam, murders her, and inherits the business. She turns the brothel into an infamous den of sexual sadism and blackmail targeting the rich and powerful men of the Salinas Valley. Yep.
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Adam falls into a deep depression, but his neighbors eventually help pull him out of it. He devotes himself to raising his sons, Caleb and Aron.
Kate is eventually found by Cal, who later brings Aron to meet her in an attempt to hurt his brother. Aron immediately sees Kate for who she is and recoils in disgust. Seemingly wracked with self-hatred, Kate leaves her estate to Aron and dies by suicide.
Adam suffers a stroke when he learns what happens to Aron (more on that below) and is bedridden and dying by the end of the novel. Bleak! But we can’t wait to see Florence Pugh take on the role.
Aron Trask and Abra Bacon
Aron is virtuous and dutiful, while his twin brother, Cal, is wild and rebellious. At a young age, Aron meets Abra Bacon, a girl from a well-to-do family, and the two fall in love.
Aron goes to Stanford University to become an Episcopal priest, which isn’t compatible with their relationship for obvious reasons. When he returns home for the holidays, he’s nervous to tell his father that he plans to drop out of college.
Then Cal, furious after being humiliated by their father, decides to punish Aron by taking him to meet their mother. Aron’s idealistic worldview is shattered when he discovers who Kate really is. He enlists in the Army to fight in World War I and is killed in action during the final year of the war. Adam suffers a stroke when Lee tells him the news.
Cal Trask and Abra Bacon
Do you think this book inspired The Summer I Turned Pretty? Just kidding.
After Aron goes to war, Cal begins a relationship with Abra. As she matures, she realizes that Aron is in love with an idealized version of her rather than her actual self. Instead, she falls for Cal, who she feels truly sees and understands her.
After Aron is killed in the war, Cal tries to convince Abra to run away with him. Instead, she persuades him to come home.
Cal begs his father for forgiveness, as his actions inadvertently led to Aron’s death. Adam responds nonverbally before finally managing to say “timshel,” a Hebrew word that is central to the novel and means that Cal has the choice to break the cycle and overcome his sins. Brb sobbing.
Samuel Hamilton and Liza Hamilton
Now for a much happier contrast. Unlike the tragic, fractured relationships of the Trask family, the Hamiltons represent a much healthier marriage.
Samuel and Liza remain married for more than 40 years, until Samuel’s peaceful death from old age. They have nine children together. Liza remains stoic in her grief and eventually moves in with her children, who care for her.
Lizzie Hamilton and husband
As the eldest daughter, Lizzie is bitter, sharp-tongued, and easily offended. She shares her mother’s rigidity but lacks her capacity for love. She marries and moves away early, effectively estranging herself from the rest of the family’s warmth. Her husband is never named.
Olive Hamilton and Ernest Steinbeck
Olive is one of the younger Hamilton children and shares her mother’s fierce, stubborn willpower. She becomes a schoolteacher and marries Ernest Steinbeck, a flour mill manager.
Together, Olive and Ernest have two children: a son named John — yes, that John Steinbeck — and a daughter, Mary. Olive is portrayed as a loving mother.
George Hamilton and Mamie Dempsey
The eldest son of Samuel and Liza, George is a very minor character in the novel. He’s bland but has an air of courtliness about him. Little is known about his wife, Mamie.
Will Hamilton and Delia
The second son of Samuel and Liza, Will is practical, conservative, and successful in business. He becomes wealthy and influential in the Salinas community, although his professional success somewhat alienates him from his family. He marries a woman named Delia, but little is known about her.
Mollie Hamilton and William J. Martin
The youngest Hamilton child, Mollie marries William J. Martin, a successful man from San Francisco who takes her away to a comfortable, wealthy life in the city.
Una Hamilton and Anderson
A tragic pairing. Una marries Anderson, an intense photographic chemist who is working on color photography. The couple moves to a remote area near the Oregon border.
Tragically, Una is accidentally poisoned by chemicals from Anderson’s darkroom and dies young. Her death devastates her parents, who are never quite the same afterward.
East of Eden, Series Premiere, October 1, Netflix
