Florence Pugh’s East of Eden is finding readers as well as viewers. Netflix says its John Steinbeck adaptation accumulated 19.1 million views across its first two weeks on the global English-language television chart, while publisher Penguin Classics reports book sales rising nearly 200% across formats.
The limited series, which arrived on 1 October, reached Netflix’s top ten in 86 countries and took first place in 34. Penguin Classics has also gone back to press 25 times this year across physical editions of the novel.
Writer and co-showrunner Zoe Kazan gives Cathy Ames, played by Pugh, more space within the Trask family’s multigenerational story. Pugh was the first actor to join and also serves as an executive producer, helping build a version that gives the novel’s formidable antagonist a stronger perspective.
Netflix’s accompanying British Library partnership will support conservation and archive work and provide books behind its screen adaptations to 100 UK libraries. Pugh and Kazan are also due to receive the John Steinbeck Award on 12 November. The series is streaming on Netflix.
