Classic tragedy

Ethan Frome

by Edith Wharton

In a bleak New England town, impoverished farmer Ethan Frome lives with his sickly wife Zeena and the consequences of choices that have left him emotionally trapped. The arrival of Zeena's warm young cousin Mattie Silver awakens a hope for companionship that Ethan lacks the resources and courage to pursue honestly. Winter isolation and a desperate plan turn romantic longing toward a famously bitter conclusion. Short, cold, and relentlessly tragic, this novella is best for a snowbound evening when you want stark atmosphere, frustrated duty, moral weakness, and a reminder that escape imagined too late may become another form of confinement.