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East of Eden

Liza Hamilton: 1831-1918

Samuel's wife, she is small, slender and self-contained, mother to nine children, four boys and five girls. She "had a finely developed sense of sin. … She was suspicious of fun. … She felt that people having a good time were wide open to the devil. … She had no spark of humor and only occasionally a blade of cutting wit. … She suffered bravely and uncomplainingly through life, convinced that that was the way her God wanted everyone to live. She felt that rewards came later."