Ethan Frome (original 1911; edition 2000)

3.5 stars ( )

ereader ebook

A great example of how writing can create atmosphere without directly naming the emotions present.

Because the book takes place in winter, I recommend reading it in that season. ( )

How sad and tragic can one book be? So much so that you think about it for days and days.

This is also a member of the “finish it and then pick it up again and start at the beginning” book group. It is like the pain that feels good.

Tragic Ethan Frome; he marries his cousin Zeena just because she is there. I did not like Zeena. She was much too whiny and a dead-weight on the marriage. Zeena eventually developed a strong case of hypochondria, and needed the help of an aide to get along day-to-day. What was interesting was how she made this switch to dependency so rapidly after marrying Ethan. This is where Mattie, Zeena's cousin, comes in. Mattie comes to live with Ethan and Zeena to help out around the house.

Mattie is a breath of fresh air in Ethan’s life. She is young, innocent and attractive, and of course, very much off limits. She has a complicated past and not a lot of options. Slowly Ethan becomes infatuated and then in love with her.

Wharton beautifully lets you live their love and difficult decisions. I am not sure if Ethan is really as trapped as he feels himself to be. Wharton explores this through the story and allows each to decide. Was the love of Ethan and Mattie doomed or were there other options there? The story is dark and cold, just like the winter in the Massachusetts town where they live.

The ending is very Twilight Zonish. The most impossible and long-lasting punishment I have ever read. ( )

Set in the 1800’s, ETHAN FROME is a quick but emotional read about a loveless marriage between a reluctant farmer, Ethan, and his hypochondriac wife Zenobia (Zeena). Ethan and Zeena marry after she nursed his mother through her last illness, so was not a love match but more of a reluctance to change. As Zeena’s imaginary illnesses progress, Mattie (cousin of Zeena) is asked to come to the farm to help Zeena, and Ethan falls deeply in love with the bright young girl. The social standard of the day makes divorce impossible for Ethan, so their love is doomed. Ethan finds himself obsessed with Mattie and she comes to represent the happiness he could have if only he was free to do so. As you would expect things come to a head, passions flair and there is an unforeseen ending.

Edith Wharton wrote this book in 1911 while she herself was trapped in a marriage with a husband that had mental issues – she was allowed to divorce him in 1913 when his mental state was deemed incurable. It is believed that she wrote this book to make a statement about how she detested society’s inflexible standards on marriage.

The book is set in Massachusetts, and is a beautifully written tragedy; if a tad slow in spots. Moody and atmospheric Edith Wharton’s descriptions of scenery match perfectly the coldness, hopelessness and despair of the main characters. The story revolves around Ethan trying to sort out what to do, and once a decision is made sets in place the circumstances that come about as a result. ( )