East of Eden - post III

The book continues to focus on the Trask brothers Adam and Charles but introduces an explosive female character to shake-up the mix and Adam’s talk of moving to California is no doubt where the link will come with the Hamiltons.

Bullet points between pages 76 – 160

* Adam comes home to discover that his father has died and left a large fortune making Charles believe he is capable of theft and deception and when he asks Adam is he loved his father his brother tells him no but he doesn’t believe he was a liar

* There are several mini-chapters spent telling the story of Cathy Ames who burns her parents alive after displaying a callous streak that is quite beyond belief ensuring that she escapes and heads off to Boston to start a new life

* Part of that new life involves ensnaring the whoremaster who is responsible for delivering girls to the inn near the Trask's farm but he discovers her real aim and almost kills her on the way to dropping her off at the inn

* She struggles to the Trask's farm and is taken in by Adam who is desperate for adventure and nurses her back to health despite the fact Charles does not trust her or like her

* In the meantime the Trask brothers have been at each other and Adam has gone on his travels to try and get rid of his restlessness and visits South America and then returns but keeps talking about California

* In an bid to save Cathy from further trouble Adam married her and then tells her they are going to move to California but, and this is an indication of how black her heart is, because she does not want to go she drugs him with sleeping medicine and sleeps with Charles no doubt in the hope he will encourage them to stay

Will Cathy be found out (I hope so) and when will the Hamilton’s appear? More tomorrow…