First published 2005
Ethan Frome tends his failing farm in the bleak Massachusetts town of Starkfield, trapped by poverty and his hypochondriac wife Zeena. When Zeena's young cousin Mattie Silver arrives to help with housework, her warmth and vitality awaken something long dormant in Ethan. He finds himself drawn to Mattie's laughter and energy, a sharp contrast to his wife's constant complaints and manipulations. As winter deepens around them, Ethan faces an impossible choice between his growing love for Mattie and his sense of duty to Zeena. The harsh New England landscape mirrors the emotional isolation that grips all three characters. When Zeena discovers the attraction between Ethan and Mattie, she threatens to send the girl away. Desperate to escape their circumstances, Ethan and Mattie make a fateful decision that will bind them to Starkfield forever. This edition includes the complete novel plus biographical material about Wharton, literary criticism, and related poems and stories.
Genres: fiction, classics, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, tragic-romance
Setting: Massachusetts, Starkfield
Period: 19th-Century
151 pages · Hardcover · Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Content warnings: depression, emotional-abuse