Ethan Frome (1911) By Edith Wharton

 

When Ethan Frome was published reviewers described it as an unfortunate love story that was not to be. Well, maybe, I guess, for hopeless romantics looking for subplot. Heaven-forbid people read the book for what it actually is, a manifesto on the impact of generational poverty. Or am I being too cynical?

The novella was written by Edith Wharton, an acclaimed author who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1921 for The Age of Innocence. She is widely recognized as a chronicler of the “gilded age.” One could say Ethan Frome, published in 1911 chronicles the other 98%,

Yes there is a missed love story in the book, but it stands as Exhibit A on what poverty and lack of healthcare does to limit one’s personal options.

Ethan is the son of a dirt-poor farmer/timberman. When his father dies, he forfeits all hopes for an education because he must take care of the farm, the mill, and his mother. When she becomes ill, he must add her care to his daily task list. His outside social contacts in the rural area where he lives disappear due to a total lack of time. Distant relatives “help out” by sending him a woman named Zeena who has become a financial burden for them, to aid in taking care of the mother. He marries her because they need each other, not for love. After the death of his mother, Zeena too becomes ill, and spiteful. Ethan becomes ever deeper in financial ruin. Her family sends a cousin to “help out.” She is a young woman named Mattie that had also become another financial burden, first to them, now to him.

Zeena hates her, sensing competition. Ethan does eventually fall in love with Mattie, unconsumated, but they can’t run away together for lack of money and for his felt moral obligations. Zeena insists Mattie has to be replaced as incompetent. The doctor decides Zeena must have more professional help, another financial burden he can’t afford: the farm, the mill, the his wife, cousin, and now a paid outsider.

Not an uplifting subplot to be found. And it gets worse.

Recommendation: No, professionally written, but deeply depressing.

The Wapshot Scandal (1964) By John Cheever

 

I just finished reading The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever. It is a sequel to his 1957 book The Wapshot Chronicle, a book I liked a lot. Because of that I’ve been eager to read the sequel, confident it would be more of the same, which would have been enough for me. It was that, and then some, hardly your standard sequel.

The first book was set in the fictional town of St Botolphs, MA and tells of the Wapshot family, prominent in the town for generations. It ends at the funeral of Leander Wapshot, for which both of his two sons have returned.

The Wapshot Chronicle

The Scandal picks up several years later, providing a brief review of the boys’ respective stories. Coverly is living on a military base with his wife Betsy and a son. Moses is living the life of a successful businessman, with his wife Melissa in an upscale suburb. Then, some interesting things happen.

Coverly gets a letter from his Aunt Honora, the family's matriarch asking him to visit her. He does, arriving alone by train. When checking in with Aunt Honora she tells him they can’t successfully sell or rent the house he and Moses inherited equally from their parents. The prospective buyers/renters claim the house is haunted.

Coverly goes to the house he grew up in to spend the night. In the middle of the night, he is awakened by the ghost of his deceased father. Coverly flees the house, and town, without even confirming to Aunt Honora that it is in fact haunted.

Long stories short: Coverly’s wife Betsy has mental health issues, is prone to fantasy, and holds him responsible for their low standard of living on a military base. Moses’ wife Melissa is a bored suburban housewife who ends up having an affair with a teenage boy named Emile who delivers their groceries. IRS visits Honora because she has failed to pay any taxes for years and they are about to confiscate everything from her.

Next up: Honora (on the friendly advice of a local Judge) withdraws all her cash funds and flees to Europe on an ocean-liner ahead of her arrest, and has an onboard “friendship” with a gigolo stowaway. She will settle in Rome. Melissa, confronted by her husband, will also head for Europe ending up in suburban Rome. And unbeknownst to Melissa, Emile, stressed by it all, will join the merchant marines heading to Europe. Emile ends up in a “meat market” where he is purchased, splitting the funds with the market owner – and of course, his purchaser at the meat market auction is none other than Melissa.

There are multiple “other” escapades in this book, some of which are hysterically funny (Honora’s audience with the Pope for instance). The Wapshot Scandal reads in places as off the wall as though it could have been written by Kurt Vonnegut.

Like I noted earlier, not your standard sequel, but a fun read.

Recommendation: yes. One could read this as a standalone novel, but my recommendation would be to read The Wapshot Chronicle first.