A tale of forbidden sexual passion and thwarted dreams played out against the lush summer backdrop of the Massachusetts Berkshires Edith Wharton called Summer her hot Ethan. In their rural settings and their poor uneducated protagonists Summer (1916) and Ethan Frome represent a sharp departure from Whartons familiar depictions of the urban upper class. Charity Royall lives unhappily with her hard drinking adoptive father in an isolated village until a visiting architect awakens her sexual passion and the hope for escape. Exploring Charitys relation to her father and her lover Wharton delves into dark cultural territory repressed sexuality small town prejudice and in subtle hints incest.