Epigraph
was banished from Eden by either beauty or genius, whichever one chose to consider the irrelevant factor of her character. If she herself had known what she wanted most, she would have liked to write her novels in a tranquil, mental world where there was no room for lovers.
She was capable of going through matrimony without experiencing with her body the slightest nervous reaction. Her soul might be bruised and her mind astonished, but no physical impression would have been made on her. She was like a crystal. A blow might leave her unscratched while the next blow might strike on the line of cleavage and shatter her.
Eva’s marriage to Nicholas Van Suydam of the Dutch Van Suydams who inherited Manhattan and upheld the ancient family traditions with stolid charm, was doomed to unhappiness.
Miss Glenn creates the strangely living and attractive personality of a lovely, untouchable woman and a genius, against the background of contemporary literary New York, a New York brilliantly sketched with wit and a light touch of satire. In subject East of Eden is a vivid contrast to Miss Glenn’s Transport and A Short History of Julia.