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Ethan Frome, Summer, Bunner Sisters
These three brilliantly wrought, tragic novellas explore the repressed emotions and destructive passions of working-class people far removed from the social milieu usually inhabited by Edith Wharton's characters. Ethan Frome is one of Wharton's most famous works; it is a tightly constructed and almost unbearably heartbreaking story of forbidden love in a snowbound New England village. Summer, also set in rural New England, is often considered a companion to Ethan Frome-Wharton herself called it “the hot Ethan”-in its portrayal of a young woman's sexual and social awakening. Bunner Sisters takes place in the narrow, dusty streets of late nineteenth-century New York City, where the constrained but peaceful lives of two spinster shopkeepers are shattered when they meet a man who becomes the unworthy focus of all their pent-up hopes. All three of these novellas feature realistic and haunting characters as vivid as any Wharton ever conjured, and together they provide a superb introduction to the shorter fiction of one of our greatest writers.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1917
4 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
About the author
Edith Wharton
1,460 books5,290 followersEdith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 13, 2020
Oh Edith, you really know how to depress me.
July 31, 2009
This was a short story that was written very well in my opinion, her discription of the scenery, the thoughts of the cast and the description of characters was very good. I enjoyed the story and one that made me feel sorry for main character in some ways. Her writing was such that I desire to read from her other works as well. I'm glad to read a book sometimes that can just tell its story in 80 pages and leave you enjoying the journey. The story is about Ethan Frome and his struggles in his life, dealing with many different things, things that the reader may feel burdened by as well. Very typical of many novels, dealing with sorrow, betrayal, love, romance. Good place to start with Edith Wharton.
May 17, 2022
4.5 stars
August 26, 2022
Bunner Sisters 4,5 ⭐️
Ethan Frome 4 ⭐️
Summer 4 ⭐️
Ethan Frome 4 ⭐️
Summer 4 ⭐️
March 4, 2010
Quiet, melancholic, under-your-skin kind of writing. All three novellas were so different but connected by class and the characters' struggles for survival. I loved how Wharton invoked the weather and seasons so powerfully and eloquently in all the stories, making landscape and climate reflective and affecting. Loved reading something set in NYC in 19th century, too, very cool. Overall, excellent and sad.
June 21, 2017
What took me so long to find Edith Wharton! So, so glad I did. Just read Ethan Frome and will continue with two others now. And most likely will read everything I can get my hands on. This is a writer who so deserves the great respect she has received. As Gore Vidal said, "[Henry James & Edith Wharton] look to be exactly what they are: giants, equals, the tutelary and benign gods of our American literature." A(wo)men.
January 1, 2018
I don't believe I ever read anything written by Edith Wharton, except a synopsis of her very popular novella, Ethan Frome. This is a collection of three of her novellas, an introduction by Hermione Lee and a very interesting, detailed timeline of her life from birth to death. It is one of the more interesting aspects of this collection, the history that was happening during Wharton's lifetime, and the very famous writers that she came to know.
June 20, 2014
Edith Wharton's three novellas are stories of repressed emotions and forbidden love. I so enjoy her style of writing and though these stories are not the typical "happy" endings, I liked them all. As for Ethan Frome I must have read it when I was much younger and recently heard someone say how much they did NOT like it but taken in its own context it was very good.
January 30, 2009
I read Bunner Sisters first and couldn't put it down. In just one or two sentences, Wharton plops you straight into the time period--late 19th century New York City. Like the other two novellas in this collection, Bunner Sisters is bittersweet and grim. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
June 16, 2009
I read Ethan Frome in high school but didn't appreciate it at all. I thoroughly enjoyed Wharton's story telling ability and sparse but powerful descriptions. Reading good writing is such a delight!
October 29, 2014
I will admit I did not read Bunner Sisters--I was feeling depressed enough after finishing Ethan Frome and Summer. Both these novellas generated some good discussion in my book club, however. Such bleak, frustrating lives....
January 15, 2008
I read this in High School. It was very interesting especially the ending. I felt compassion, sad, happy, and at the same time thought how stupid serves him right.
February 11, 2008
It's Wharton. 'nuff said.
December 6, 2008
First Edith Wharton I ever read. Instant fan.
Want to read
February 2, 2010reading Ethan Frome. watched Age of Innocence and decided to read that as well...
May 8, 2010
Edith Wharton is so underrated. Kind of a depressing author though.
August 4, 2011
Edith Wharton has such a wonderful way of writing about the spare life that some live and the deepest feelings they share. I appreciate her careful use of the language.
August 18, 2011
I only read Ethan Frome and Summer because after I finished reading Summer I was ready to lay down weeping. So sad.
November 26, 2015
Great stuff. I'm really glad I've discovered Wharton. Her books are dark and the characters generally unhappy, but compelling all the same.
September 29, 2015
Excellent novella collection ... and an excellent departure from the typical characters found in Ms. Wharton's novels.
July 13, 2017
I only read Summer out of this collection. If you like Edith Wharton -- or Thomas Hardy -- I would recommend it.
January 16, 2018
Edith Wharton. Amazing. www.edithwharton.org
January 1, 2017
Things I don't like in my books: love triangles with unlovable characters; lecherous male characters who prey upon overly dramatic and shallow young female characters; characters who make poor life decisions to their own obvious detriment based on misguided morale ideals; stilted, unbelievable dialog. Each of the three novellas in this collection has one or more of these disagreeable elements. Real ratings for each novella (with spoilers) to follow.
Ethan Fome 1 star - WTF did I just read? Milquetoast man, Ethan Frome, marries Zeena out of a twisted sense of obligation because she helped care for his dying parent, only for her to turn into a weird, non-speaking hypochondriac. After they take in her orphaned cousin, Mattie, he falls in love with the shiny young thing (who is also mysteriously "sickly" but is really just spoiled) and feels all butt hurt that his wife is pissed about this burgeoning affair and plans to send Mattie away. Ethan and Mattie then enter into an ill-conceived suicide pact that leaves Ethan disabled, Mattie paralyzed, and poor Zeena the caretaker of both of them for the rest of her life. No. Just...no. Zeena was not a particularly sympathetic character, but she would have been far better off if Ethan had just left her on her own and run off with Mattie like he'd been thinking of doing, instead of leaving all three of them in mutually assured misery.
Summer - 1 star - Charity Royall is a "librarian" who hates books (despite demanding special treatment to get the job in the first place), and is prone to dramatically flinging herself on her bed and looking at her idle hands. She's a shallow shell of a person, but she's pretty, so she ends up in in a twisted love triangle between her alcoholic, adopted father and a big city boy (Harney) who is secretly engaged to someone else, where both of the men are just using her for their own sense of self satisfaction. This story was written one hundred years ago, so there are vague references to girls "going away" and prostitution, but there are no actual depictions of sex; when Charity gets pregnant she visits an abortionist to confirm her pregnancy (and gets duped out of a lot of money in the process despite not actually wanting or getting an abortion). In the end she marries her creepy father with an implied understanding he's not getting any and we never hear from Harney again.
Bunner Sisters - 2.5 stars - Elder sister Ann Eliza buys younger sister Evelina a clock for her birthday, and develops a small crush on Mr. Ramy, the German clock repairer who sold her the gift. The clock stops working and Evelina takes it to Mr. Ramy for repair, subsequently starting a friendship between the sisters and the man, which then turns into Evelina courting Mr. Ramy (Ann Eliza hides her feelings for Mr. Ramy from him and her sister). Mr. Ramy proposes marriage to Ann Eliza, much to her shock, and she rebuffs his advances for the benefit of her sister, and eventually Ramy and Evelina get engaged. The wedding is almost called off due to financial concerns, but Ann Eliza gives up her half of the sisters' savings, allowing the pair to marry and move to St. Louis, and where after several months the letters stop and Evelina has disappeared. Back in New York the sisters' shop is rapidly going under without Evelina's skill at bonnet trimming and Ann Eliza is having to pawn off their belongings. Eventually a sickly Evelina turns back up with the story of Mr. Ramy's drug use, their baby dying, and him abandoning her for another woman, before she eventually dies herself and Ann Eliza has to close shop and move elsewhere.
Out of the three stories Bunner Sisters was my favorite because the sisters were the most realistic characters with the most natural interactions, and the dialog between the two women was the least awkward of all the stories. The story itself was also depressing in a believable way, rather than depressing in a creepy and fucked up kind of way.
Ethan Fome 1 star - WTF did I just read? Milquetoast man, Ethan Frome, marries Zeena out of a twisted sense of obligation because she helped care for his dying parent, only for her to turn into a weird, non-speaking hypochondriac. After they take in her orphaned cousin, Mattie, he falls in love with the shiny young thing (who is also mysteriously "sickly" but is really just spoiled) and feels all butt hurt that his wife is pissed about this burgeoning affair and plans to send Mattie away. Ethan and Mattie then enter into an ill-conceived suicide pact that leaves Ethan disabled, Mattie paralyzed, and poor Zeena the caretaker of both of them for the rest of her life. No. Just...no. Zeena was not a particularly sympathetic character, but she would have been far better off if Ethan had just left her on her own and run off with Mattie like he'd been thinking of doing, instead of leaving all three of them in mutually assured misery.
Summer - 1 star - Charity Royall is a "librarian" who hates books (despite demanding special treatment to get the job in the first place), and is prone to dramatically flinging herself on her bed and looking at her idle hands. She's a shallow shell of a person, but she's pretty, so she ends up in in a twisted love triangle between her alcoholic, adopted father and a big city boy (Harney) who is secretly engaged to someone else, where both of the men are just using her for their own sense of self satisfaction. This story was written one hundred years ago, so there are vague references to girls "going away" and prostitution, but there are no actual depictions of sex; when Charity gets pregnant she visits an abortionist to confirm her pregnancy (and gets duped out of a lot of money in the process despite not actually wanting or getting an abortion). In the end she marries her creepy father with an implied understanding he's not getting any and we never hear from Harney again.
Bunner Sisters - 2.5 stars - Elder sister Ann Eliza buys younger sister Evelina a clock for her birthday, and develops a small crush on Mr. Ramy, the German clock repairer who sold her the gift. The clock stops working and Evelina takes it to Mr. Ramy for repair, subsequently starting a friendship between the sisters and the man, which then turns into Evelina courting Mr. Ramy (Ann Eliza hides her feelings for Mr. Ramy from him and her sister). Mr. Ramy proposes marriage to Ann Eliza, much to her shock, and she rebuffs his advances for the benefit of her sister, and eventually Ramy and Evelina get engaged. The wedding is almost called off due to financial concerns, but Ann Eliza gives up her half of the sisters' savings, allowing the pair to marry and move to St. Louis, and where after several months the letters stop and Evelina has disappeared. Back in New York the sisters' shop is rapidly going under without Evelina's skill at bonnet trimming and Ann Eliza is having to pawn off their belongings. Eventually a sickly Evelina turns back up with the story of Mr. Ramy's drug use, their baby dying, and him abandoning her for another woman, before she eventually dies herself and Ann Eliza has to close shop and move elsewhere.
Out of the three stories Bunner Sisters was my favorite because the sisters were the most realistic characters with the most natural interactions, and the dialog between the two women was the least awkward of all the stories. The story itself was also depressing in a believable way, rather than depressing in a creepy and fucked up kind of way.
September 25, 2020
Three novella tragedies. Romance alleviates the austere lives of three different individuals but offers only false hope.
Ethan Frome (1911)
A haunting story. The reader first sees Ethan Frome at a distance: striking, but a ruin of a man. Over several chapters, we slowly learn his story. Socially isolated from youth, Frome grasps at marriage only to find his wife sickly and domineering. Both live in grinding poverty. When his wife takes in a poor younger cousin as unpaid help, Frome falls in love. His joy is short lived, however, as a combination of poverty, spousal suspicion, and fate close off his options. The ending is particularly macabre—almost a horror story.
Summer (1917)
Like Ethan Frome, Summer is set in New England. The lowly-born Charity is scarcely educated and an outsider in her village but wants a better life than that she sees around her. When a wealthy young artist/architect visits the village, he is enamored with Charity’s looks and she seizes on romance to escape the rural tedium. Their rapturous affair breaks social norms with tragic consequences for Charity.
Bunner Sisters (written 1890, published 1916)
Two sisters live together in the back room of their dressmaking shop. Their resignation to an austere life together is disrupted when they meet a widowed clock repairer. As he spends more time with them, both sisters become romantically attached. As in the other two novellas, the joys of romance of short-lived when exposed to the glare of a ruthless, even hostile world. Like Ethan Frome, this is a macabre story.
All three novellas involve belated and awkward attempts at romance by individuals constrained by poverty and isolation. In each case, the protagonist makes a romantic choice that is self-defeating—partly due to poor judgment, partly because of the lack of better alternatives. Each romance is primed for failure from the outset, reflecting a hidden chasm between romantic hope and the heartless nature of the real world. It is not clear, based on these novellas alone, whether Wharton is pessimistic about the prospects for romantic love as a general proposition, or whether she is exploring the theme of tragic love in the lives of the poor and socially isolated.
Based on these novellas, I have enjoyed Wharton’s crisp, clear writing much more than the archly convoluted text of Henry James. I look forward to exploring Wharton’s other works.
Ethan Frome (1911)
A haunting story. The reader first sees Ethan Frome at a distance: striking, but a ruin of a man. Over several chapters, we slowly learn his story. Socially isolated from youth, Frome grasps at marriage only to find his wife sickly and domineering. Both live in grinding poverty. When his wife takes in a poor younger cousin as unpaid help, Frome falls in love. His joy is short lived, however, as a combination of poverty, spousal suspicion, and fate close off his options. The ending is particularly macabre—almost a horror story.
Summer (1917)
Like Ethan Frome, Summer is set in New England. The lowly-born Charity is scarcely educated and an outsider in her village but wants a better life than that she sees around her. When a wealthy young artist/architect visits the village, he is enamored with Charity’s looks and she seizes on romance to escape the rural tedium. Their rapturous affair breaks social norms with tragic consequences for Charity.
Bunner Sisters (written 1890, published 1916)
Two sisters live together in the back room of their dressmaking shop. Their resignation to an austere life together is disrupted when they meet a widowed clock repairer. As he spends more time with them, both sisters become romantically attached. As in the other two novellas, the joys of romance of short-lived when exposed to the glare of a ruthless, even hostile world. Like Ethan Frome, this is a macabre story.
All three novellas involve belated and awkward attempts at romance by individuals constrained by poverty and isolation. In each case, the protagonist makes a romantic choice that is self-defeating—partly due to poor judgment, partly because of the lack of better alternatives. Each romance is primed for failure from the outset, reflecting a hidden chasm between romantic hope and the heartless nature of the real world. It is not clear, based on these novellas alone, whether Wharton is pessimistic about the prospects for romantic love as a general proposition, or whether she is exploring the theme of tragic love in the lives of the poor and socially isolated.
Based on these novellas, I have enjoyed Wharton’s crisp, clear writing much more than the archly convoluted text of Henry James. I look forward to exploring Wharton’s other works.
June 18, 2018
I'm a sucker for 'doom and gloom' stories and Edith Wharton's 1911 novella 'Ethan Frome' sure fits the bill. I read it years ago and there it was beckoning me again from the library shelf. I was amazed at how tight the writing is, how evocatively descriptive it is, and how perfectly Wharton conveys the sense of impending doom with its atmosphere of repression, frustration, and misery. The final paragraph is just so heartbreaking. In addition we feel what life was like for the country poor, especially in the snow-drenched, isolated environment of a winter in nineteenth century New England, a setting that was far removed from Wharton's background. All this written more than one hundred years ago and it still has the power to move the reader in the 21st century. Wharton hinted that models for her story were Tess (of the D'Urbervilles), Jude (the Obscure) and Wuthering Height's Heathcliffe - all excellent 'doom and gloomers'.
October 13, 2018
I read Ethan Frome in high school as many of us did. I returned to it because my son suddenly got interested in Wharton and he shared his interest with me. I appreciated it much more this time. I also read The Bunner Sisters which is also a very short novel included in this edition. What I was really struck by was how well Wharton could get into the lives of these working-class people when she probably had no way to know what their lives were really like (she came from a very wealthy New York family). I came to a point in Ethan Frome where I just had to stop. I knew there was going to be an accident and I didn't remember the outcome but knew it wasn't good. I actually waited two months before I continued. I finally realized the accident was going to happen whether I read about it or not. Even though both stories are tragedies, they are so well written! Wharton was definitely a master of her craft!
October 5, 2022
I picked this up to read Bunner Sisters, which was new to me, but re-read the other two novellas since they were were.
I read Ethan Frome in high school -- I was the only person who actually enjoyed it and remembered a lot people grumbling about it. I probably liked it less this time around, mostly because I'm older and the whole "if we can't be together, we'll just run this sled into a tree" doesn't seem like such a romantic notion anymore.
I actually read Summer about five years ago and only realized halfway through that I'd read it before. It's the story of an "adopted" girl in a sort of coming of age story where nothing is going right. I found it to be OK.
I did enjoy Bunner Sisters -- two sisters in New York who are scraping by until a mysterious German man comes along. I found this story to be interesting, though depressing.
I read Ethan Frome in high school -- I was the only person who actually enjoyed it and remembered a lot people grumbling about it. I probably liked it less this time around, mostly because I'm older and the whole "if we can't be together, we'll just run this sled into a tree" doesn't seem like such a romantic notion anymore.
I actually read Summer about five years ago and only realized halfway through that I'd read it before. It's the story of an "adopted" girl in a sort of coming of age story where nothing is going right. I found it to be OK.
I did enjoy Bunner Sisters -- two sisters in New York who are scraping by until a mysterious German man comes along. I found this story to be interesting, though depressing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2022
Reading these stories was like watching train wrecks slowly unfolding over and over again. The writing was good, descriptions adequate, characters well-drawn. But those characters were lacking that very thing - character - and they didn't grow or develop in positive ways, but merely sank in the misery of their emotionally-driven choices.
On a positive note, Edith Wharton does not gloss over the sad realities with happy endings, so although tragic, the characters must live with the harsh consequences of their foolish actions. While I would not say I enjoyed reading these stories, they do provide apt warnings for weak men and women who are tempted to be led astray by their feelings or the deceptions of others.
On a positive note, Edith Wharton does not gloss over the sad realities with happy endings, so although tragic, the characters must live with the harsh consequences of their foolish actions. While I would not say I enjoyed reading these stories, they do provide apt warnings for weak men and women who are tempted to be led astray by their feelings or the deceptions of others.
July 6, 2018
In a word...wow! Three great novellas by one of america's greatest writers. Very good examples of naturalistic writing of the time, with some not so happy endings. Ethan Frome is as good as advertised! Really enjoyable!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2019
A very talented author with great insight into human character and feeling and and beautiful use of the natural world in setting the mood and enlightening the reader to the inner lives of the characters. However, as a reader who likes “happy endings,” I just did not personally enjoy the stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews