So I just finished reading Ethan Fromm, and I came away pretty horrified-and I devour classic literature. I have never been so unsympathetic to a protagonist that was not explicitly written to be the anti-hero, unless Wharton was intending that, but it does not really appear so, especially as I read somewhere that she was critical of society's obsession with keeping unhappy marriages together. I have only read one other Wharton book before, Summer, so I am aware that she is fine with bleak endings, but still. Anyway, I kept thinking throughout how this book could VERY easily be written from Maddie or Zenna's POV or even both SPOILER that demonstrates how Ethan fell out of love with his wife when she got sick, and then preyed on a younger dependent in his house. Zenna sending Maddie away could be to get her out of her predator's way, and Maddie's agreement to the suicide pact could be to save the next girl from his unwanted attentions. Has such a book been written, I wonder?
by dem676