The Awakening and Selected Stories by Kate Chopin

And reading the stories is more of a sociological and historical (including linguistic) endeavour than a literary one. I consider the author a keen observer of human nature and of the customs of the people surrounding her in that particular time and place (she herself was an outsider as far as I can tell).

This is not the type of book you get through in one sitting. Moreover, the book consists of one novella and a large number of very short stories with repetitive motifs and sometimes protagonists. The best and worst I can say about this book is that it is a very vivid and accurate portrayal of its times and of a place, Louisiana towards the end of the 19th century. Overshadowed by the relatively recent fame of The Awakening, they contain some of the best work of this remarkably original author. The Awakening is a strikingly modern, evocative story of self-discovery and female emancipation, set in the sensuous environment of Southern Louisiana, where the young Edna Pontellier reclaims her own individuality, refusing to be defined by her roles of wife and mother.Ĭhopin's stories are brilliantly observed, compassionate and often humorous, alert to the foibles, weaknesses and small triumphs of her characters. This is the first paperback edition to bring out in one volume Kate Chopin's extraordinary novel The Awakening (1899), along with the complete text of her two collections of short stories, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897), and twelve uncollected tales.

The Awakening and Selected Stories by Kate Chopin