To a God Unknown

One of Steinbeck's earliest novels, To a God Unknown powerfully explores man's relationship to nature and to destiny.

With his father's reluctant blessing, Joseph Wayne leaves the family home in Vermont and travels West to fulfil his dream of creating a prosperous farm. Settling in an idyllic Californian valley, Joseph comes to believe that a magnificent oak tree that hangs over his new house embodies his father's spirit. Joseph invites his brothers and their families to join him and the farm flourishes. Then one brother, frightened by what he thinks are Joseph's pagan beliefs, destroys the tree ...