This was the first novel by Edith Wharton that I had ever read. Afterwards I found as many of her novels to read as possible. And while some of her other popular novels The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence are wonderful works, I kept going back to Ethan Frome as my favorite. 
 The story of a lonely farmhand who has always done as he should, supporting his ill wife through all of her mistreatment of him, staying in a small town where neither ambition nor fufillment can be recognized and working hard for his family and neighbors, unwittingly falls in love with his wife's cousin when she comes to live with them. For the first time in his life Ethan finds the joy in existence. But once he acts on his feelings, tragic consquences ensue for all three. 
 The characters and events are so real, I found myself in mourning from the final outcome of the novel. And this will be one of those stories that continues to stay with me. And that is definitely my favorite kind of book.