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East of Eden

Euna (Una) Hamilton: 1860-1896

She is "a thoughtful, studious, dark girl. …Of all his daughters Una was Samuel's greatest joy. Even as a little girl she hungered for learning as a child does for cookies in the late afternoon. Una and her father had a conspiracy about learning–—secret books were borrowed and read and their secrets communicated privately. Of all the children Una had the least humor." She married "an intense dark man," a photography chemist, who had contempt for the Hamiltons. Her death in Oregon is a crushing blow to Samuel.