Bom in 1862, Edith Wharton grew up in a wealthy New York City family. She married in 1885. By the time she wrote Ethan Frome, this marriage, like that of her title character, had begun to deteriorate. In her novel, the unhappy Fromes remain married. Wharton herself, however, became one of the rapidly growing number of Americans who chose to divorce their spouses. While the events in the novel bear some resemblance to its author's personal experiences, Ethan Frome also reflects aspects of life near the turn of the century in rural New England, where the population lived very isolated lives.
Rural New England. New England changed a great deal during the nineteenth century. In many of its rural communities, both population growth and economic growth slowed, leveled off, and finally declined. Increasing numbers of people moved away from the region's farms in search of greater financial opportunities elsewhere. Others felt drawn to cities by the thought of living in a more diverse, stimulating atmosphere.
There were only limited economic opportunities for farmers in nineteenth-century New England. It had always been somewhat difficult to make a good living farming the rocky soil of the region.
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