The titular character of Ethan Frome, the novella by Edith Wharton, is a ruin of a man. For twenty-four years Frome has held a secret: he loved not his waspish wife Zeena, but her cousin and nursemaid Mattie. Now aged, Frome is hired by a newcomer to desolate Starkfield, and the tragic twist of Frome¿s desire is set to be revealed.