Sous la neige

by Edith Wharton

"Sous la neige" by Edith Wharton is a novella published in 1911. Set in the fictional Massachusetts town of Starkfield, the story unfolds through flashback as an engineer learns about Ethan Frome, a limping man marked by tragedy. Twenty-four years earlier, Ethan lived with his bitter, hypochondriac wife Zeena and her young cousin Mattie, who helps with household duties. When forbidden love develops between Ethan and Mattie, they face an impossible choice between duty and desire in the harsh New England winter.