Is Ethan Frome based on a true story?

No. Ethan Frome is a work of fiction. Edith Wharton set it in the invented town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, though she drew on the harsh rural New England winters she knew from living in the Berkshire Hills.

How long is Ethan Frome?

Ethan Frome is a novella, not a full-length novel. Most editions run under 150 pages, making it one of Edith Wharton's shortest major works.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome

Novella Classics Literary Fiction

Pages: 104
Published: 1911
Language: English

Synopsis

In the bleak, snow-covered landscape of Starkfield, Massachusetts, a nameless visitor becomes intrigued by the stoic, yet clearly broken, Ethan Frome. Drawn into Ethan's isolated life, the visitor learns the tragic story of his past, a tale of stifled dreams and a devastating choice made in the harsh grip of winter.

1 review

How it reads

Sad Melancholic Dark Emotional

Forbidden Love Sacrifice Forced Proximity

Prose complexity 7/10

Content warnings (2)

TraumaAbuse

Genres

Subjects

19th Century Accident victims American fiction Berkshire Hills Chinese language Couples mariés England English fiction English language, textbooks for foreign speakers Ethan Frome Family Life Farm life Guardian and ward Interpersonal relations Love Manners and customs Man-woman relationships Marriage Married people Massachusetts Mattie Mœurs et coutumes New England Paste papers Pauvres en milieu rural Poor Poverty Readers Romans, nouvelles Rural poor Seal style Single women Social life and customs Starkfield Study and teaching (Secondary)Triangle (Relations humaines)Triangles (Interpersonal relations)Unrequited love Victimes d'accidents Vie à la ferme Wharton, edith, 1862-1937 Women as authors Writing Young women Zenobia Frome

Places

Berkshire Hills Massachusetts Starkfield · Fictional

Ethan FromeProtagonist

A once-promising young man kept in Starkfield by family duty and poverty, worn down by decades of hardship and a loveless marriage to his ailing wife.

Zeena FromeAntagonist

Ethan's older, chronically unwell wife, whose quiet suspicion of his growing closeness to her cousin Mattie overshadows the household.

Mattie SilverSupporting

Zeena's orphaned young cousin, taken in to help around the farm, whose warmth and vitality draw Ethan's forbidden affection.

Ruth VarnumSupporting

A village friend of Mattie's who later marries Ned Hale and, years afterward, tells the visiting narrator what became of Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie.

Denis EadySupporting

A prosperous young Starkfield storekeeper who courts Mattie Silver and stirs Ethan's jealousy.

All characters in Ethan Frome

Edith WhartonClassics · Literary Fiction·1862–1937

No. Ethan Frome is a work of fiction. Edith Wharton set it in the invented town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, though she drew on the harsh rural New England winters she knew from living in the Berkshire Hills.
Ethan Frome is a novella, not a full-length novel. Most editions run under 150 pages, making it one of Edith Wharton's shortest major works.