Ethan Frome & Summer

This book features two of Wharton's most famous novels -- "Ethan Frome and Summer" -- both set in dark, rigid New England far from Wharton's socialite New York.

Ethan Frome is the story of a young man, trapped in an unfulfilling marriage to an ailing older woman. Yearning for his wife's orphaned cousin who has come to live on his isolated farm, Ethan Frome learns the power of local convention to smother the growth of an individual.

Summer, Wharton's most daringly erotic novel, tells of Charity Royall, bored in a small New England town until she meets visiting architect Lucius Harney. A story about love, desire, and blooming adulthood, it is a study of society, nature, and human needs.