Two 20th Century Sagas of People and Place: John Steinbeck's East of Eden and Winifred Holtby's South Riding

In these two very different books written in the mid 20th century, an American man and an English woman explore the complex relations of families, friends, and romantic partners within a deeply meaningful sense of  place. Considered to be the book most responsible for Steinbeck winning the Nobel Prize in 1962, East of Eden concerns three generations of the Trask family. From the Civil War to after the First World War in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, the book follows the family as it comes to grips with the challenges of landscape and the environment and the complexities of the relationship between men and women. East of Eden’s specific rendering of California agricultural life is matched by how South Riding represents British local politics—in both cases the novels extract literary value out of what might seem stubbornly specific material. South Riding, published posthumously after Holtby’s early death at the age of thirty-seven, concerns the interrelationship of aristocrats, socialists, and middle class strivers at a time of economic shifts and changes in the role of women. Readable, absorbing, and formally intriguing, these two books show the resilience of humanity amid the quandaries of the modern world.
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0

You'll walk away with

• A familiarity with John Steinbeck’s and Winifred Holtby’s most famous novels
• Knowledge about the political, social, and cultural contexts of both novels

Ideal for

• Those with an interest in modern literature
• The curious and creative