This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families--the Trasks and the Hamiltons--whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

Adam and Charles Trask grow up in the shadow of their father, Cyrus. Cyrus prefers Adam, inciting jealousy in his younger son. Adam is signed up for the cavalry, while Charles works on the family farm. Reuniting years later, the brothers live in peace until a beautiful woman nearly beaten to death arrives on their front porch. Adam nurses her back to health and falls blindly in love. But Cathy hides a cruel past. Adam and Cathy marry and have twin...