Ethan Frome (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Edith Wharton (Author), Elizabeth Ammons (Editor, Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: October 25, 2005 | Series: Penguin Classics

Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious, and hypochondriac wife, Zeenie. But when Zeenie’s vivacious cousin enters their household as a “hired girl,” Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.

In one of American fiction’s finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill-starred trio toward their tragic destinies. Different in both tone and theme from Wharton’s other works, Ethan Frome has become perhaps her most enduring and most widely read novel.

• Updated with a new introduction

Editorial Reviews

Review

`with each volume having an introduction by an acknowledged expert, and exhaustive notes, the World's Classics are surely the most desirable series and, all-round, the best value for money' Oxford Times

`This love story has an emotional intensity made all the more poignant by the inarticulate reticence of Wharton's characters - a menage a trois consisting of Frome, his querulous wife and her young girl cousin. With quiet assurance, Wharton conveys passion, malaise and tragedy with memorable impact.' Sophia Sackville-West, Evening Standard (London)

`Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most famous novels and rightly so. It is exquisitely written by an author with remarkable observation and imagination. Ethan Frome is a novel which extinguishes hope and blows away happiness but it is so powerful as an analysis of waste that it is nothing short of a masterpiece.' Madeleine Burton, Herts Advertiser --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Book Description

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students 14-18 years old in English-speaking classrooms. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reissue edition (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142437808
• ISBN-13: 978-0142437803
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (377 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "We shall never be alone again like this" December 12, 2008

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Edith Wharton filled her novels with a feeling of ruin, passion and restriction. People can fall in love, but rarely do things turn out well.

But but few of even her books can evoke the feeling of "Ethan Frome," whick packs plenty of emotion, vibrancy and regrets into a short novella. While the claustrophobic feeling doesn't suit her writing well, she still spins a beautiful, horrifying story of a man facing a life without hope or joy.

It begins nearly a quarter of a century after the events of the novel, with an unnamed narrator watching middle-aged, crippled Ethan Frome drag himself to the post-office. He becomes interested in Frome's tragic past, and hears out his story.

Ethan Frome once hoped to live an urban, educated life, but ended up trapped in a bleak New England town with a hypochondriac wife, Zeena, whom he didn't love. But then his wife's cousin Mattie arrives, a bright young girl who understands Ethan far better than his wife ever tried to. Unsurprisingly, he begins to fall in love with her, but still feels an obligation to his wife.

But then Zeena threatens to send Mattie away and hire a new housekeeper, threatening the one bright spot in Ethan's dour life. Now Ethan must either rebel against the morals and strictures of his small village, or live out his life lonely. But when he and Mattie try for a third option, their affair ends in tragedy.

Wharton was always at her best when she wrote about society's strictures, morals, and love that defies that. But rather than the opulent backdrop of wealthy New York, here the setting is a bleak, snowy New England town, appropriately named Starkfield. It's a good reflection of Ethan Frome's life, and a good illustration of how the poor can be trapped.

Even when she describes a "ruin of a man" in a cold, distant town, Wharton spins beautiful prose ("the night was so transparent that the white house-fronts between the elms looked gray against the snow") and eloquent symbolism, like the shattered pickle dish. There's only minimal dialogue -- most of what the characters think and feel is kept inside.

Instead she piles on the atmosphere, and increases the tension between the three main characters, as attraction and responsibility pull Ethan in two directions. It all finally climaxes in the disaster hinted at in the first chapter, which is as beautifully written and wistful as it is tragic.

If the book has a flaw, it's the incredibly small cast -- mainly just the main love triangle. Ethan's not a strong or decisive man, but his desperation and loneliness are absolutely heartbreaking, as well as his final fate. Mattie seems more like a symbol of the life he wants that a full-fledged person, and Zeena is annoying and whiny up until the end, when we see a different side of her personality. Not a stereotypical shrew.

"Ethan Frome" is a true tragedy -- as beautifully written as it is, it's still Wharton's description of how a man merely survives instead of living, hopeless and devastated.

69 of 86 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Snowing, It's Snowing! July 12, 2000

By Joseph J. Hanssen

Format:School & Library Binding

Once in a while you have to put down those current novels, and read some classic literature. And Edith Wharton is one of the best.

This story takes place in the cold, bleak winter farmlands of Massachusetts. Ethan Frome, a poor farmer, has a hard life tending to his land, trying to make a meager living, and also taking care of his ungrateful, demanding, sickly wife, Zeena. When her cousin, Mattie, comes to help her, Ethan's life changes completely. He falls deeply in love with Mattie. This being the 1800's, he must endure the stifling conventions of that era's society also. There love for each other proves to be a fascinating story.

I loved this book. This is a story that will definitely take you away. You'll actually feel you are there. Edith's detail description of the scenery and landscape of that time are truly vivid. I found myself pausing from my reading to look outside to see if it was actually snowing. I highly suggest you find time to read "Edith Wharton's books, you'll be grateful. I certainly was!

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Ethan Frome is a good story and easy to read March 12, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Ethan Frome is the sad story of a hopeless marriage worsened by the blossoming of star-crossed love. Ethan and his invalid wife Zeena resent their loveless marriage and life together. When Zeena's sickness requires additional attention, Zeena's cousin Mattie is invited to Starkfield. Mattie's lovely and warm personality contrasts Zeena's cold character, revealing to Ethan how much is missing from his life. He and Mattie immediately fall in love, but with Zeena's constant presence their love is doomed from the start. All of the characters are well-defined, especially Ethan. Although her writing style is hardly complex, Wharton, a woman, demonstrates an amazing skill in creating a believable sensitive and stern main character. Her vivid descriptions of nature throughout the book create an environment that is chillingly beautiful and captivate the reader. Wharton creates a sense of isolation and regret, often countered content and happiness. Ethan Frome is a classic. Wharton writes a novel that is both easy to follow and sophisticated. The ending is extremely suspenseful with a surprising result. This novel is recommended for anyone who wants to read a short, simple love story.