I am reading the book Ethan Frome. This book is written by Edith Wharton. I am on chapter seven. So far in the book the reader has met the three main characters: Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie. Ethan and Zeena are a married couple living on a farm in Starkfield Massachusetts. Mattie is Zeena's cousin living with them to do the housework that Zeena can't do because she is very sick. During her stay Ethan and Mattie discover they have chemistry between them. Neither of them can express their feelings because Ethan is an older married man and Mattie is Zeena's younger cousin. When Zeenas heath gets worse she decides to travel into a larger town and see a doctor. This is the first time Mattie and Ethan will be alone for a night. They have a nice dinner and normal conversation during the evening. Nothing happens between the two because they both know it would be wrong. When Zeena returns home she says the doctors orders were to get a hired girl so that Zeena doesn't have to do a thing around the house. They both know they can't afford to keep both girls so Mattie has to go.  Ethan, of course, does not want Mattie to leave and tries his best to keep her around.

I didn't like this book at first, but now I enjoy reading this book. Its different and unique making it interesting to read. There is some suspense which makes the reader want to keep reading to see what is going to happen. I think the author wrote this book because she enjoyed telling a story of hidden love and romance. The theme of this book is happenstance. Ethan and his wife, Zeena, got married when Ethan's mother died and Zeena was to take care of the housework. They got along fine, but it was more so a marriage of coincidence and not because they loved each other. A quote that went along with this idea is: "I'm obliged to you, but I guess I'll go along back." This is like what happened to Zeena and Ethan. When Zeena was living with Ethan and his mother, caring for her because she was very sick, Ethan and Zeena knew it was right thing to get married when Ethan's mother passed. I think the best character is Ethan. He is struggling with balancing his duty to his wife and his love for Mattie. He does his best to have things remain normal, but he eventually lets his feelings get the best of him. As readers we see how he deals with the problems he is facing. I have no questions about my book.