Edith WhartonтАЩs most widely read work is a tightly constructed and almost unbearably heartbreaking story of forbidden love in a snowbound New England village.
┬а
This brilliantly wrought, tragic novella explores the repressed emotions and destructive passions of working-class people far removed from the elevated social milieu usually inhabited by WhartonтАЩs characters. Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, trapped in a marriage to a demanding and controlling wife, Zeena. When ZeenaтАЩs young cousin Mattie enters their household she opens a window of hope in EthanтАЩs bleak life, but his wifeтАЩs reaction prompts a desperate attempt to escape fate that goes horribly wrong. Ethan Frome is an unforgettable story with the force of myth, featuring realistic and haunting characters as vivid as any Wharton ever conjured.