"Cliff Notes - Ethan Frome" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

sag, he limps, and his face is grim. Every day he comes to
town, checks the post office for mail (he rarely has any), says
barely a word to anyone, and drives off again.

Ethan's odd looks and behavior arouse the curiosity of a young
stranger, in town to do an engineering job for the local power
company. By chance, during a terrible blizzard the man finds
overnight refuge in Ethan's house. Later, he tells you what he
has discovered about Ethan.

Ethan, at eighteen, is a bright, eager scholar. He goes to
college to study physics and natural science, but he drops out
after a year because his father is killed in an accident. At
that point Ethan loses whatever chances he has to escape the
quiet and solitary life of a poor farmer. The family farm and
sawmill become his responsibilities.

In spite of very hard work year after year, he earns barely
enough to support himself and his mother. As his mother's
health worsens, he neglects the farm and mill to care for her.
But finally help arrives. Zeena Pierce, a cousin from the next
valley, comes to nurse the old woman during her last illness.
Fearing loneliness after his mother's death, Ethan asks Zeena to
marry him, which she does.

But within a year Ethan knows that he has made a mistake. Zeena
becomes chronically ill. As a semi-invalid, she does little
more than nag and complain. Despite his return to misery, Ethan
does his duty. He struggles to keep the farm and mill going.
What money he earns goes to pay for Zeena's doctors and for
medicines that never seem to work.

After six depressing years something happens to change Ethan's
life forever. Mattie Silver, a distant cousin of Zeena's, moves
in to help Zeena with the household chores. To Ethan, Mattie is
a breath of spring--cheerful, kind, and pretty. Also, she
admires Ethan's knowledge of nature. He falls for her
immediately.

Zeena, however, fails to appreciate Mattie's qualities. In
fact, Mattie just doesn't meet Zeena's expectations as a
housekeeper. When Zeena threatens to dismiss her, you can
imagine how Ethan objects. However, he can't speak up for
Mattie too forcefully because he can't let Zeena know how
attached he has become to the girl. His greatest worry is that
she already knows.

Although Ethan wants to tell Mattie his feelings, he can't
because he's tongue-tied. Adding to his misery, he's jealous of
every young man who smiles at Mattie or dances with her at a