Ethan frome - edith wharton

Perhaps the best-known and most popular of Edith Whartons novels, Ethan Frome is widely considered her masterpiece.

Set against a bleak New England background, the novel tells of Frome, his ailing wife Zeena and her companion Mattie Silver, superbly delineating the characters of each as they are drawn relentlessly into a deep-rooted domestic struggle.

Burdened by poverty and spiritually dulled by a loveless marriage to an older woman.

Frome is emotionally stirred by the arrival of a youthful cousin who is employed as household help.

Matties presence not only brightens a gloomy house but stirs long-dormant feelings in Ethan.

Their growing love for one another, discovered by an embittered wife, presages an ending to this grim tale that is both shocking and savagely ironic.