Ethan Frome

By: Edith Wharton

Narrated by: Richard Thomas

A masterpiece by Edith Wharton, author of The Age of Innocence.

Winter in a Massachusetts village serves as a backdrop to Edith Wharton's masterpiece about a man with little hope of escaping his bleak future. Married to an older woman named Zeena, Ethan Frome finds himself drawn to his wife's cousin, Mattie. Although he dreams of fleeing his loveless marriage and stealing away with Mattie, Ethan has neither the means nor the will. Mattie offers another solution, a desperate act borne out of despair that may result in even greater tragedy.

Public Domain (P)2001 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Stark tragedy

Unlike many of Edith Wharton’s novels, Ethan Frome centers on poor people rather than rich and middle class, and it is short. But the prose is characteristically rich and evocative, and the portrait of human interactions acutely observed. Even though I remembered the horrible twist of the ending from having read it many years ago, hearing it read in this fine performance, I still found it wrenching. It’s well worth a listen, but not if you are looking for a feel-good story.