Ethan Frome is a 1911 book by American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The novel was adapted into a film, Ethan Frome, in 1993. An unnamed narrator was visiting the small town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, on business when he notices an older gentleman walking with a limp throughout the town. Speaking with the townspeople, the narrator discover this curious man to be a lifelong resident of Starkfield named Ethan Frome and that he had acquired his limp some 24 years ago in what was described as a "smash-up." Further details about Frome were withheld, and the narrator's curiosity grows. In a chance crossing, the narrator hires Frome as his driver for a week, and after a severe snowstorm hits, he must lodge in Frome's home.