Ethan Frome

Books | Fiction / Classics

3.3

(356)

Edith Wharton

First published in 1911, "Ethan Frome" is widely regarded as Edith Wharton's most revealing novel and her finest achievement in fiction. Set in the bleak, barren winter landscape of New England, it is the tragic tale of a simple man, bound to the demands of his farm and his tyrannical, sickly wife, Zeena, and driven by his star-crossed love for Zeena's young cousin, Mattie Silver. "In its spare, chilling creation of rural isolation, hardscrabble poverty and wintry landscape," writes Alfred Kazin in his afterword, ""Ethan Frome" overwhelms the reader as a drama of irresistible necessity." An exemplary work of literary realism in setting and character, "Ethan Frome" stands as one of the great classics of twentieth-century American literature.

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Author

Edith Wharton

Pages

150

Publisher

Perfection Learning Corporation

Published Date

1977-07

ISBN

081241554X 9780812415544

Community ReviewsSee all

"This was torture."

Maria Paula

"4.25, to be more accurate"

Changeling Reader (Adrian)

"content warnings for this book (let me know if there are any I need to add, I plan to put content warnings in every book in my future classroom library): infidelity, attempted suicide"

tay!!

"If you thought [b:The Age of Innocence|53835|The Age of Innocence|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388248423l/53835._SY75_.jpg|1959512] was riddled with melancholy, you are going to drown in melancholy in [b:Ethan Frome|5246|Ethan Frome|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630481181l/5246._SY75_.jpg|132919]. I was not prepared. Ethan has spent his whole life taking care of people, starting with his parents and then Zeena. He watched Zeena go from a caretaker to a whiny, miserable woman to whom he dreads returning home. But Mattie is a breath of fresh air! They love each other. Their attempted suicide was not at all unrealistic to me, which some other reviews mention because of its methodology of a sled crash, but was instead devastating: “Ethan! Ethan! I want you to take me down again!” “Down where?” “The coast. Right off,” she panted. “So 't we'll never come up any more.” “Matt! What on earth do you mean?” She put her lips close against his ear to say: “Right into the big elm. You said you could. So 't we'd never have to leave each other any more.” What's worse is it doesn't work. Mattie is instead left sickly and dependent and bitter. She whines and is nothing like her former self. The absolute tragedy is Ethan having to watch Mattie, the girl he loved, turn into the epitome of everything he hates."

K R

Kayla Randolph

"content warnings for this book (let me know if there are any I need to add, I plan to put content warnings in every book in my future classroom library): infidelity, attempted suicide"

awesome_user_265148

"6/10"