Description

Ethan Frome, a lonely and downtrodden farmer, lives alone with his sickly, judgmental wife Zeena and her cousin Mattie, who helps around the house. Ethan and Mattie have feelings for one another, but are trapped in the hopelessness of their situation. When Zeena becomes suspicious and threatens to send Mattie away, Ethan takes matters into his own hands, propelling himself and Mattie down a snowhill and towards their fate. Considered by many to be Edith Wharton’s masterpiece, Ethan Frome departs from other novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence in its exclusion of the upper classes. Wharton is believed to have based the novel on a real-life sledding accident that she heard about in Lenox, Massachusetts. Ethan Frome was adapted for film in 1993, starring Liam Neeson as Ethan Frome. HarperPerennialClassics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

Description

The classic short novel of love, deceit, and tragedy, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton has been breaking hearts and shocking readers for over a century. Ethan Frome is a ruin of a man, aged and limping. Alienated from the other residents of desolate Starkfield, Massachusetts, he can barely draw a living from the stony soil of his family farm. For twenty-four years, Frome has held a secret in his heart: he loved not his waspish wife Zeena, but her young cousin Mattie, whom Zeena depended on for care. When an enigmatic newcomer arrives in Starkfield one frigid winter and takes pity on Frome, the tragic twist of Frome’s love and desire, and the reason for his crippling injuries, are set to be revealed. Ethan Frome is a classic tragic love story. The inability of Ethan and Mattie to articulate their feelings save through gestures—as small as a broken plate, as large as a horrific accident—speak to the power of author Edith Wharton’s gimlet eye. And the reversal of fortune in the denouement continues to shake readers over a century after it was written. Adapted as a film starring Liam Neeson and Particia Arquette in 1993, Ethan Frome has broken the hearts of generations of readers. The Mint Editions version of Ethan Frome features expressive cover art and contemporary typesetting, making it a fine addition to any bookshelf.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Description

One of literature’s keenest social critics, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Edith Wharton weaves a tragic small-town tale of epic proportions in this masterful novella Physically disfigured and trapped in a loveless marriage to a sickly older woman, Ethan Frome is a broken man. He lives a desolate, impoverished life in the town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, bound by an unassailable sense of duty. But long ago, Ethan dreamed of something beyond his bleak and tedious New England existence. Once, he had dared to have hope for the future. Ethan Frome tells the wrenching story of a love destined not to be and a man mired in his own private hell. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Description

Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work. An entrancing but sad story of a poverty-stricken Massachusetts farmer caught in a loveless marriage. The main characters are Ethan Frome, his wife Zenobia, called Zeena, and her young cousin Mattie Silver. Frome and Zeena marry after she nurses his mother in her last illness. Although Frome seems ambitious and intelligent, Zeena holds him back. When her young cousin Mattie comes to stay on their New England farm, Frome falls in love with her. But the social conventions of the day doom their love and their hopes. Ethan’s love for his young cousin leads to one day of explosive emotions with tragic consequences. The story forcefully conveys Wharton’s abhorrence of society’s unbending standards of loyalty. Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research. Read with confidence.

Description

A masterwork of American literature from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Age of Innocence. A marked departure from Edith Wharton’s usual ironic contemplation of the fashionable New York society to which she belonged, Ethan Frome is a sharply etched portrait of the simple inhabitants of a nineteenth-century New England village. The protagonist, Ethan Frome, is a man tormented by a passionate love for his ailing wife’s young cousin. Trapped by the bonds of marriage and the fear of public condemnation, he is ultimately destroyed by that which offers him the greatest chance at happiness. Like The House of Mirth and many of Edith Wharton’s other novels, Ethan Frome centers on the power of local convention to smother the growth of the individual. Written with stark simplicity, this powerful and tragic novel has long been considered one of Wharton’s greatest works.

Description

Edith Wharton’s most widely read work is a tightly constructed and almost unbearably heartbreaking story of forbidden love in a snowbound New England village.   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 Wharton’s characters. Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, trapped in a marriage to a demanding and controlling wife, Zeena. When Zeena’s young cousin Mattie enters their household she opens a window of hope in Ethan’s bleak life, but his wife’s 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.

Description

Edith Wharton’s most widely read work is a tightly constructed and almost unbearably heartbreaking story of forbidden love in a snowbound New England village.   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 Wharton’s characters. Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, trapped in a marriage to a demanding and controlling wife, Zeena. When Zeena’s young cousin Mattie enters their household she opens a window of hope in Ethan’s bleak life, but his wife’s 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.