On this week's episode, we discuss Edith Wharton's classic novella, Ethan Frome. Ethan is a man tormented by the love he has for his wife's younger cousin, Mattie, who has been living with them after her family's fortune disappeared. Ethan's wife, Zeena, is both ill and cold-hearted and has felt a disdain for her cousin and tries to get rid of her at the first chance she gets. What does Ethan do when he has to choose between remaining with his sick wife, or following the departing woman he loves?
This story is packed with personal dilemmas, themes of love, betrayal, socio-economic class, brutal cold winters in New England and the clever way in which the author inserted herself in this book. This book is undoubtedly a classic. Listen along as we discuss the impact that this small book has made.
