Introduction and Notes by Kent Ljungquist One of Edith Wharton's few works of fiction that takes place outside of an urban, upper-class setting, Ethan Frome draws upon the bleak, barren landscape of rural New England. A poor farmer, Ethan finds himself stuck in a miserable marriage to Zeena, a sickly, tyrannical woman, until he falls in love with her visiting cousin, the vivacious Mattie Silver. As Mattie is forced to leave his household, Frome steals one last afternoon with her— one that culminates in a ruinous sled ride with unspeakably tragic results. Unhappily married herself, Edith Wharton projected her dark views of love onto people far removed from her social class in Ethan Frome. Yet her sensitivity to natural beauty and human psychology make this slim novel a convincing and compelling portrait of rural life and a powerful tale of passion and loss. Also included in this volume are four of Edith Wharton's finest short sto-ries: "The Pretext," "Afterward," "The Legend," and "Xingu." Kent Ljungquist, Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is the author of The Grand and the Fair: Poe's Landscape Aesthetics and Pictorial Techniques.