'He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface' Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena's vivacious cousin enters their household as a 'hired girl', Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent. In one of American fiction's finest and ...
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'He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface' Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena's vivacious cousin enters their household as a 'hired girl', Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent. In one of American fiction's finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill- starred trio towards their tragic destinies. It is likely that the accident in the story is based on a real life incident that occurred in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1904 when five children were killed when they crashed into a lamppost while sliding down Courthouse Hill. Edith Wharton would have learned of the event while working at the Lenox library with Kate Spencer, a survivor of the actual accident. The work was adapted into a popular 1993 film of the same name.
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This is a classic which is still used today in many psychology classes. A romance in marriage gone wrong. Another woman? This has all the twist to make it a great read. It has an ending like no other! No, you cannot guess the ending.
PeachTea
Mar 10, 2009
Zzz
I supposed I was biased against this book since I had to read it for a class, but found it dull and depressing. The characters were 2-D and there was little time for development. The story itself held an interesting (if worn) concept, but Wharton didn't do much /with/ it. I decided I felt more sorry for Ethan's wife than anything else, and that was about all this book made me feel or think. I wouldn't advise you to spend your time on it.
