
Over one long languid summer Edna Pontellier fettered by marriage & motherhood becomes acquainted with Robert Lebrun As the days shorten & the temperature drops Edna succumbs to Robert's devotion But as her desire grows so too does her discontentment
- with the role society has forced her to play & with the bonds that hold her fast
- & her world begins to unravel with devastating consequences The Awakening is widely regarded as one of the forerunners of feminist literature alongside Tolstoy's Anna Karenina & Flaubert's Madame Bovary First published in the United States in 1899 this radical novel sent shockwaves through American society & continues to speak to readers over a hundred years later This tender brilliant & seductive novel is as beautifully written as it is politically engaging