The Awakening: and Other Stories

Edna Pontellier is on holiday with her husband and children at Grand Isle, on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. There, she is pursued by and falls in love with the passionate and earnest, Robert Lebrun. But Robert, convinced that their relationship is doomed, flees to Mexico. On her return to New Orleans, Edna, overwhelmed by her desire for freedom, moves out of the family home to her own rented property. Robert eventually returns to declare his love for Edna only to abandon her again with tragic consequences.

Kate Chopin’s famous novella is recognised as a landmark work of early feminist fiction and is published in this volume with a selection of her short stories.

Edited and introduced by Dr J. Michelle Coghlan.