Ethan Frome was published 1911, the story set in a small town of New England. the plot is fairly simple. there is Ethan, who supposedly stayed for “too many Starkfield winters.” he married his cousin who had taken care of his sick mother, and who eventually and ironically ended up being “sickly” herself (from hypochondria). he ends up falling in love with mattie, the cousin and help of Zenna (his wife).

There are turns of events, and psychological decisions, manipulations, and conniving motivation hidden within each character, even the narrator. This is what adds further dimension to the intriguing love and power triangle.

i gave the book a 3.5 because i didn’t think it was exceptional in comparison to other books i’ve read, but it has been my favorite so far in my American Literature 1865-1914 class. it also has a lot of perspectives you can take, whether in gender or social classification. plus, talk about unrequited love.

3.5 stars