Ethan Frome

This painting, Home at Montclair by George Inness (interestingly, from the collection at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown), is shown on the front cover of the Signet Classic edition of Ethan Frome and is a perfect image for the setting and events of the book: bleak, cold, dark and offering little hope for momentary joy, let alone release.  Well, what the heck - it's Edith Wharton!  

Starkfield (!), Massachussetts is a rare departure from Wharton's usual metropolitan world of wealth and privilege, but the theme is again how chance circumstances of life can crush the hopes of an individual, in this case, Ethan Frome, an admirable and likable character who meets and accepts an inexorable and cruel fate.  The book is simply and beautifully written - and very sad.