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Ethan Frome, first published in 1911, shows off Edith Wharton's down in the dumps chops. This lady was as successful as they come, and most of her things wasn't at the super uplifting category of literature. In addition to the zillions of other things she composed, you may have known of her Pulitzer Prize-winning society novel The Age of Innocence.

Kind of a big deal, because she was the first woman ever awarded the Pulitzer. And in case that wasn't baller sufficient, she was also the first woman to be given an honorary doctorate by Yale University.

But back to Ethan Frome. This novella is one of Wharton's most famous stories, in part because of its extremely raw portrait of the poverty-stricken inhabitants of the fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. And by exceptionally raw, we imply really raw. These folks are not happy. Throw in a creepy and kind of incestuous love triangle, and you've got yourself a treasure chest of broken dreams.

Wharton probably didn't pull this love triangle business out of her hat, either. Before her divorce from the emotionally and physically ailing Teddy Wharton, and before the publication of Ethan Frome, she had an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for The London Times (origin). Write what you know, we suppose?

Bottom line: if you would like to feel better about your life, Ethan Frome is the place to start.

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