This famous short novel was first published in 1911. Ethan Frome is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, New England, where an unnamed narrator tells the story of his encounter with Ethan Frome, a man with dreams and desires that result in startling events.
The novel is framed by extended flashbacks, where the narrator gradually learns about the life of the mysterious local man Ethan Frome, who was injured in a horrific "smash-up" twenty-four years before. Frome is described as "the most striking figure in Starkfield" and a “ruin of a man". The narrator fails to get many details from the townspeople and later hires Frome as his driver for a week.
A severe snowstorm forces Frome to take the narrator to his home one night for shelter. Just as the two are entering Frome's house, the first chapter ends. The second chapter then flashes back twenty-four years and the narration switches from the first-person narrator of the first chapter to a limited third-person narrator. Ethan is waiting outside a church dance for Mattie, his wife’s cousin, who lives with Ethan and his wife Zeena to help around the house since Zeena is unwell. Mattie is given the occasional night off to entertain herself in town as partial recompense for taking care of the Frome family without pay and Ethan has fallen into the habit of walking her home. It is made clear that Ethan has deep feelings for Mattie and it is equally clear that Zeena suspects these feelings and does not approve.