A seemingly simple story which encompasses a very well-liked plot-line, one of a love which is not possible due to [insert] circumstances. Not merely the ending of this novel was surprising, but every single element of it seemed to exhibit something much more profound than what was put on the page. Without perhaps truly intending to do so, Wharton revealed the inner worlds of complicated characters and offered a very different view of a situation any reader may have encountered before.
Even though there are three people involved in this story, it is certainly not a love triangle. Love exists only between Ethan Frome and his wife’s cousin Mattie Silver, both miserable, in distinct ways, they find solace in one another. Frome feels like he is living a life not worth living and one which he never wanted in a small town in New England. Mattie is poor and alone and she clings to the only person who offers kindness. Their obstacle is Ethan’s sick and unpleasant wife Zeena. The background for this conundrum is the cold and desolate scene of a winter in Massachusetts.
The story plays with the reader’s emotions and their sense of right and wrong. My use of the word ‘seemingly’ in the first paragraph is accurate, because the deception of simplicity comes from the fact that despite the reader’s strong wish for the main characters to be together, to find some meaning in their lives, this is stopped by a strong sense of morality. When one considers Zeena, as unappealing as she is made out to be, her character is not evil per se. She is a woman who has also sacrificed a life she wished to have for the poverty she finds with Frome, and that, combined with her illness and her resentment for her physical opposite, Mattie, creates a truly heart-wrenching situation. Frome considers all of this when he wishes to leave her to run away with Mattie. His thoughts before doing so and the outcome of the entire affair were really the finest pieces of writing I have read in a long while.
Wharton writes truly masterfully and I will definitely pick up more books by her (The Age of Innocence was a true pleasure as well!). This little novel really amazed me, because I was not expecting much from a plot that has been done and over-done significantly, but what I found really moved me. The scene was right before my eyes and it really provoked a strong train of thought relating to the situation in the story, because I struggled to decide on a path of action I would have chosen in the circumstances of either character. I enjoyed the diversity Wharton brought to the characters, as they seemed to be real, flawed and at the same time incredibly easy to sympathise with. I also appreciated the naivety she was still able to retain in her way of writing even when faced with a true tragedy. I truly wish the novel had been longer, because I would have liked to see her explore the characters more before ending their journey so abruptly, and I suppose that is my only reproach.
I give this book four out of five wine bottles.
Books and wine. 