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2.37k reviews for:

Ethan Frome

Edith Wharton

3.31 AVERAGE

fast-paced

I’m depressed 
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

HS sophomore year required reading. ugh.
reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

My first Wharton, and I really enjoy her writing style. It feels simple and easy to follow. I'll definitely try her again. The structure of the book was really lovely, inserting clues for the reader to figure out as the narrator does. Went quite quickly! People keep saying how bleak it is in other reviews, and I suppose it feels Gothic in a sense (Jane Eyre, man tied down to his wife, anyone?), but in the sense that Ethan's situation is so hopeless, he's still fighting for that one thing, and that's what got me through, trying to see if he'd make it out. (I definitely just abandoned watching The Revenant to go read this, oh the irony) And my curiosity about what happened, Wharton's set up the book well with the narrator's curiosity and allusions to the situation.

i enjoyed it, it was sad though
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

"Ethan Frome drove in silence, the reins loosely held in his left hand, his brown seamed profile, under the helmet-like peak of the cap, relieved against the banks of snow like the bronze image of a hero. He never turned his face to mine, or answered, except in monosyllables, the questions I put, or such slight pleasantries as I ventured.He seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface; but there was nothing unfriendly in his silence."
Introduction, p 5

It was OK. I like Wharton's inner character monologues and nature descriptions, but I'm wasn't very into the actual storyline. But I'll try something else by her, perhaps [b:The House of Mirth|17728|The House of Mirth|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328729186l/17728._SY75_.jpg|1652564]?