East of Eden - post VIII

Steinbeck has the ability to bring a lump to your throat and a smile to your face sometimes in unison but always at the right time. Powerful stuff as characters struggle with hate, love and loneliness.

Bullet points between pages 402 – 502

* After his visit Adam comes back and shows an interest in his boys, which is the first time they have been really discussed in the story so far, and history seems to be repeating itself with Cal the dark menacing one and Aron the Adam junior

* Adam decides to write to his brother Charles and Lee asks him if he can leave to open a bookstore in San Francisco and it seems that Adam will be given a chance to rediscover the things lost in his decade of mourning for Cathy

* A letter is returned to him with a note from the lawyers saying that Charles has died and left his money to be split between Adam and Cathy which forces a reunion of the husband and wife in which Adam exposes her inability to believe in love

* Following Samuel’s death the Hamilton family settle in to their respective lives with Tom left at the ranch being eaten up with loneliness but he perks up when his sister Dessie sells her house in town to Adam and moves back home

* But Dessie is ill and just as they plan to travel Europe and escape for a life of adventure she takes a turn for the worst and in response, because by giving her salts Tom believes he killed her, the lonely son decides to take his own life

If that final few chapters fails to leave you with a tear in the eye then you must be made of tin. More tomorrow…