Title: Ethan Frome

Author: Edith Wharton

Publisher: 1911

Genre: Classic Fiction

Pages: 99

Rating:  3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Rory Gilmore; 1001 Books; TBR Reduction; A to Z - E; 52 Books - W5; Classics - Name in Title

Perhaps the best-known and most popular of Edith Wharton's 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. Mattie's 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.

A classic author I have been meaning to read for years now. I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed in this novel. I just wasn't feeling any of the characters. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the bleak landscape. Those were where Wharton truly shined. But the characters and storyline just weren't that intriguing to me at all.