Set against the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome is the story of a poor farmer, lonely and downtrodden, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, the enchanting Mattie Silver. In the playing out of this short novel's powerful and engrossing drama, Edith Wharton constructed her least characteristic and most celebrated book. In her Introduction, the distinguished critic Elaine Showalter discusses the background to the novel's composition and the reasons for its enduring success.
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Set against the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome is the story of a poor farmer, lonely and downtrodden, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, the enchanting Mattie Silver. In the playing out of this short novel's powerful and engrossing drama, Edith Wharton constructed her least characteristic and most celebrated book. In her Introduction, the distinguished critic Elaine Showalter discusses the background to the novel's composition and the reasons for its enduring success.
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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.