3 h 59 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 98 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 98 pagesAbout this book
What if the person who brings light into your life is the one you cannot choose?
In Starkfield, Massachusetts, winter lasts for months and money is scarce. An unnamed engineer arrives for work and notices Ethan Frome, a lame, grey, silent farmer. His curiosity opens a story of lost hopes, hard duties, and three people living under one roof.
Ethan once dreams of studying science. Now his land, his mill, and his sickly wife, Zeena, keep him bound to home. When Zeena’s young cousin Mattie Silver comes to help, she brings warmth into his days. His growing love meets the hard limits of poverty, loyalty, and a household shaped by illness.
What you’ll discover
- A house divided Feel the strain as Ethan’s longing for Mattie presses against his duty to Zeena.
- Winter that holds fast Enter a cold New England landscape that mirrors Ethan’s isolation and narrows his choices.
- Dreams behind closed doors Meet a farmer whose hopes of science give way to land, work, and responsibility.
- A stranger seeking answers Follow the visiting engineer as he gathers hints and imagines the past behind Ethan’s silence.
- The weight of silence Explore how unspoken longing, scarce money, and familiar duties can hold a life in place.
Who will love it
For readers who love tightly built stories with a strong sense of place, love tested by duty and poverty, and anyone curious about Wharton outside the drawing room.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger asks about a broken man
- Ethan's life is already a trap
- Mattie Silver brings light into the house
- Zeena's illness tightens its hold
- What the story is really about
- How Wharton builds the cold
Who’s who
- Ethan FromeA poor Starkfield farmer who once dreamed of studying science and now cannot leave his land, his mill or his duties.
- Zeena FromeEthan's wife, older than he and always unwell, who rules the household through her illnesses and her watchfulness.
- Mattie SilverZeena's young cousin, poor and orphaned, who comes to help in the house and brings brightness to Ethan's days.
- The narratorAn unnamed engineer, stranded in Starkfield for a winter, who becomes curious about Ethan and pieces together his story.
- Harmon GowAn older Starkfield man who remembers the past and gives the narrator his first hints about Ethan.
- Jotham PowellThe Fromes' hired man, who drives and does farm work and is often present in the household.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 3 h 59 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 98 pages: 6,95 USD when you start free, 13,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 98 pages: 13,95 USD when you start free, 20,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton · 1911
In a cold Starkfield farmhouse, Ethan falls in love with his wife's cousin and must face what he owes and what he wants.
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In short
Ethan Frome is a short novel by Edith Wharton, published in 1911. It is set in the fictional hill town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, where winter lasts for months and money is scarce.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger asks about a broken man
The book opens with a narrator who is never named. He is an engineer sent to Starkfield for a job, and he is stuck there through a hard winter. In the village he notices a tall man with a stiff, lame body who moves like a figure held in a vise. People call him Ethan Frome, and the narrator cannot stop looking at him.
He asks about the man, but the answers are thin. Harmon Gow, an older local who remembers the past, says only that Frome has been in Starkfield too many winters. The narrator learns that Ethan has carried the marks of an old accident for about twenty-four years. Nobody gives him the whole story, and each person tells it a little differently.
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What is Ethan Frome about?
It tells of a poor farmer in the New England town of Starkfield, trapped in a joyless marriage. When his wife's young cousin Mattie comes to live with them, he falls in love and must face what he owes and what he wants.
Who is Mattie Silver in Ethan Frome?
Mattie is Zeena's young cousin, orphaned and poor, who comes to the Frome farm to help with the housework. Her warmth and cheerfulness awaken feelings in Ethan that he has long held down.
Is Ethan Frome a true story?
No, it is fiction. Edith Wharton published it in 1911 and set it in an invented town, Starkfield, Massachusetts. She drew on her knowledge of the New England hill country, where she lived for a time.
The author
Edith Wharton
1862–1937 · American novelist
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American writer and designer born in New York City. She later lived in France, where she died. Her books include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), and The Age of Innocence (1920). She co-wrote The Decoration of Houses with Ogden Codman Jr. in 1897.
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