The Awakening and Selected Short Stories

Written in 1899, Chopin shocked readers by creating the passionate main character of Edna Pontellier. Pentellier, a wife and mother of two sons living in conventional Creole society, rejects these roles and decides to live selfishly. The scandal created by the book haunted Kate Chopin for the rest of her life : she did not produce any new works during the last five years of her life.