KATE CHOPIN (1851-1904) brought out her first novel, At Fault, at her own expense in 1890. It was followed by two well-reviewed collections of her short stories: Bayou Folk in 1894 and A Night in Acadie in 1897. The Awakening appeared in 1899 to an explosion of disapproving reviews and the cancellation of her next book contract. However, within a decade of her early death at the age of fifty-four, her literary genius began to be widely recognized. ABOUT THE INTRODUCER: JANE SMILEY is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the Last Hundred Years Trilogy: Some Luck, Early Warning, and Golden Age. Her most recent novels are Perestroika in Paris and A Dangerous Business. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has also received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature.
Introduction by Jane Smiley
The Awakening
Selected Stories
Wiser Than a God
A Point at Issue!
A Shameful Affair
Miss McEnders
At the ’Cadian Ball
Désirée’s Baby
At Chênière Caminada
The Story of an Hour
Lilacs
The Kiss
Athénaïse
A Pair of Silk Stockings
