Synopses & Reviews
In the summer of her 28th year, Edna Pontellier and her children spend the summer in Grand Isle, an idyllic coastal community on the Gulf of Mexico. Away from her husband and the sweltering heat of 1890s New Orleans, Edna releases herself to her deepest yearnings, plunging into an illicit liaison that reawakens her long dormant desires, enflames her heart and, eventually, blinds her to all else.
Written nearly 100 years ago, The Awakening is the compelling story of a extraordinarily modern woman struggling against the constraints of marriage and motherhood, and slowly discovering the power of her own sexuality. Edna's search for her own individuality, touches the hearts of women who have learned the value of freedom and happiness, and her story is now regarded as a classic in American fiction.
Review
"Chopin shares the boldness in technical experiment and moral relativism of her contemporaries in the 1890s...a writer of considerable sensibility and talent...in her stories she worked for breadth. In height, however, and depth, it is The Awakening that will serve as her passport in to our time and posterity."
The Times Literary Supplement (London)
Synopsis
She grew daring and reckless. Overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out. Where no woman had swum before.
About the Author
Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, In 1851. She began writing shortly after her Husband's death and, from 1889 until her own Death, her stories and other miscellaneous Writings appeared in Vogue, Youth's companion, Atlantic Monthly, Century, Saturday Evening Post, and other publications. In addition to The Awakening, Mrs. Chopin published another novel, At Fault, and two collections of short stories and sketches, Bayou Folk and A Night at Acadie. The publication of The Awakening in 1899 occasioned shocked and angry response from reviewers all over the country. The book was taken off the shelves of the St. Louis mercantile library and its author was barred from the fine arts club. Kate Chopin died in 1904.