A man trapped by duty and social expectation finds his life irrevocably altered by the arrival of his wife's cousin. Ethan Frome, a struggling farmer in the isolated town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, lives a life defined by poverty and a joyless marriage to his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. When Mattie Silver, a vibrant young woman, comes to live with them, Ethan experiences a brief awakening of desire that clashes with his rigid moral obligations. The narrative framework utilizes a frame story, beginning with an unnamed narrator who observes the scarred and broken Ethan, before retreating into the past to reveal the events that led to his current state.

Readers and critics frequently highlight the oppressive atmosphere of the New England setting as a primary driver of the narrative tension. Discussion often centers on the rigid social codes that constrain the characters and prevent them from pursuing their own happiness. Many analyses focus on the stark contrast between the internal desires of the protagonist and the external reality of his circumstances. The work is noted for its economy of language and the precision with which it depicts the slow erosion of the human spirit. Scholars often point to the novel as a definitive example of psychological realism within the American literary canon.