Life is always hard for the poor, in any place and at any time. Ethan Frome is a farmer in Massachusetts. He works long hours every day, but his farm makes very little money. His wife, Zeena, is a thin, grey woman, always complaining, and only interested in her own ill health. Then Mattie Silver, a young cousin, comes to live with the Fromes, to help Zeena and do the housework. Her bright smile and laughing voice bring light and hope into the Fromes' house - and into Ethan's lonely life. But poverty is a prison from which few people escape.


在任何時代、任何地方，只要貧窮，生活便不易。伊登・弗洛姆是美國麻州的一位農夫，他整天辛苦的工作但只有微薄的薪水，他的太太琪南是位中年婦人，成天抱怨只會關係自己體弱多病的身體。這時年輕的表弟馬帝‧西維爾和佛洛姆夫婦同住，幫忙琪南做家事，琪南燦爛的笑容和笑聲讓整個佛洛姆家帶來希望，也影響伊登原本孤單的人生。但貧窮像是個監獄般困住人，只有少數人能從中逃脫。