I finished reading The Awakening this weekend. It is often regarded as an early feminist novella, and it certainly wasn't what I expected. It takes place in southern Louisiana in the late 1890s. The main character transforms from a woman in her late 20s who is living her life in the manner which is expected of a woman of her age and social standing to a woman who realizes that she may be able to live life in the way in which she actually desires. I won't go into details on the plot, but I will warn that the first half of the story trudges along rather slowly. It really starts to pick up shortly before the characters leave their summer home on Grand Isle to return to New Orleans for the winter season. There are a couple of sections (not very many) which you may have to read more than once in order to grasp what is happening. Chopin was required to be extremely subtle in her writing in order to get it published - something that we are not as accustomed to any longer. I recommend it if you enjoy early feminist novels or have a taste for southern authors. Chopin's writing style influenced quite a few southern authors, but her style is not as convoluted as much of her contemporaries' works.
1. The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
2. Hideous Kinky, Ester Freud
3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
4. The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe
5. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
6. Franny and Zooey, JD Salinger
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
8. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
9. 1984, George Orwell
10. Out of Africa, Isak Dineson
11. Absalom, Absalom!, William Faulkner
12. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
13. The Awakening, Kate Chopin
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