Ethan Frome: The Story of a Portrait (Unabridged) by Edith Wharton is a classic American novel that was published in 1911 and had become a beloved American classic ever since. The story centers around the Frome family, whose home is converted to a museum after a battle in which the patriarch dies. Ethan Frome — the oldest son — now has to care for his younger siblings and face the daily challenges of being a young man in a world that is changing.
Ethan Frome's passion for art makes him a local celebrity and brings him into contact with people of all classes and backgrounds, but he rarely finds a true understanding or support from them. Rather, he faces obstacles and cruelty from those he attempts to help and save the most. Wharton weaves a heartbreaking tale about a boy growing up in the era that became known as the Gilded Age, when small-town society was particularly archaic and hypocritical. However, this book is much more than a sociological commentary on society: it's a poignant tale that presents the readers with a sensitive portrait of an unconventional hero, who undergoes trials and tribulations to find true love and meaning in life.
The story is filled with characters that are realistically detailed, as there are scenes describing their everyday lives, heartwarming and poignant, including a tender love between the master picture frame maker and a shopgirl in the beginning and shocking scenes showing the consequences of social expectations.
In addition to providing a unique and insightful look at the past, Wharton's work is also a meditation on the struggles one must endure to find one's own identity, and it encourages us to seek
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