With an Introduction by Dr Pamela Knights Department of English Studies Durham University With this intensely moving short novel Edith Wharton set out to draw life as it really was' in the lonely villages & desolate farms of the harsh New England mountains Through the eyes of a visitor from the city trapped for a winter in snowbound Starkfield readers glimpse the hidden histories of this austere & beautiful land Piecing together the story of monosyllabic Ethan Frome his grim wife Zeena & Mattie Silver her charming cousin Wharton explores psychological dead-lockfrustration longing resentment passion First published in 1911 the novella stunned its public with its consummate handling of the unfolding drama & has remained for many readers the most compelling & subtle of all Wharton's fiction