Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome is Edith Wharton’s masterful tale of isolation, duty, and forbidden longing set against the stark backdrop of rural New England. In the frozen town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, the quiet and physically broken Ethan Frome toils through a bleak existence alongside his cold, hypochondriac wife, Zeena. When her cousin Mattie Silver arrives to help care for Zeena, Ethan finds himself drawn to her warmth and vitality. As their connection deepens, an impossible choice brews beneath the surface—between passion and obligation, between escape and sacrifice.

Told through the eyes of an unnamed outsider who uncovers the tragic story piece by piece, Ethan Frome explores the crushing power of social expectations and the irreversible consequences of a single decision. With its haunting atmosphere and poignant psychological insight, this novella remains one of Wharton’s most enduring and heartbreaking works.