East of Eden
/ˌiːst əv ˈiːdn/
/ˌiːst əv ˈiːdn/
- a novel (1952) by the US author John Steinbeck. It is about a farmer and his family in the Salinas Valley of California during the early years of the 20th century. A film version (1955) used mostly the second half of the book, in which one of the farmer's sons discovers that his mother owns a brothel (= house of prostitutes). This was James Dean's first major role.