He looked at her hair and longed to touch it again, and to tell her that it smelt of the woods, but he had never learned to say such things.

Ethan Frome toils at his New England farm while struggling to maintain a bearable existence with his sickly and judgemental wife, Zeena. He finds himself increasingly drawn to Mattie, Zeena’s cousin, who helps around the house. Although she represents the possibility of happiness, they are trapped by their hopeless situation. And when Zeena becomes suspicious and arranges for Mattie to be sent away, events take a tragic turn.

This heart-breaking portrait, from the author of The House of Mirth, is an intimate look at choices not made and lives not yet lived. First published in 1911 and adapted for film, Ethan Frome remains for many the most subtle and moving of Wharton’s works.