With this intensely moving short novel, Edith Wharton set out ‘to draw life as it really was’ in the lonely villages and desolate farms of the harsh New England mountains. Through the eyes of a visitor from the city, trapped for a winter in snowbound Starkfield, readers glimpse the hidden histories of this austere and beautiful land. Piecing together the story of monosyllabic Ethan Frome, his grim wife, Zeena, and Mattie Silver, her charming cousin, Wharton explores psychological dead-lock:frustration, longing, resentment, passion. First published in 1911, the novella stunned its public with its consummate handling of the unfolding drama, and has remained for many readers the most compelling and subtle of all Wharton’s fiction.
Tag: passion
The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday
Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young, and work-obsessed - makes a detour on his way home to the vast undercroft of Caerlyon Hall, and the domain of Francis Black, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, Wilberforce is initiated into a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, the possibility of finding acceptance, and even falling in love, seems finally to be within his reach. Wilberforce becomes a willing pupil to Francis, and in the cellars of Caerlyon he nurtures a new-found passion for wine. But even the finest wine can leave a bitter aftertaste, and Wilberforce will learn the undercroft's unpalatable secrets, and that passion comes at a price ...
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
This book includes several chapters of recipes, and describes how Mayes bought and restored an abandoned villa in the Tuscan countryside.
Love in a time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.
Family Secrets by Derek Malcolm
In 2003 he published an autobiographical book, Family Secrets, which recounts how in 1917 his father shot his mother's lover dead, but was found not guilty of murder.
The Perfect Sinner by Will Davenport
Discover a sumptuous and haunting novel of mediaeval loves, lies and loyalties.
The Perfect Sinner by Will Davenport
Discover a sumptuous and haunting novel of mediaeval loves, lies and loyalties.