Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this short fiction in high school.  It had an impact on me then, probably because of the 'scandalous' relationship between Ethan and Mattie.  I bet as a high school kid I thought that was something to be whispered about--I went to HS a looong time ago.  I remember being focused on the sled ride, and the choices that could have been made at that point.  It seemed wasteful to me at the time to choose suicide, and I didn't understand it.  I remember being bored by the story.

Reading it now, I read a  different story.  One of sad desolation and intense loneliness.  Ethan makes choices of ethical value, for his circumstances, until that one emotionally wrenched and wrecked choice to slide towards the tree.  What severe punishment that they all suffered in trying to find love and comfort.

Every word in this book affects the next.  Very glad I reread it and it is highly recommended.