7 h 15 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 15 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a wife and mother begins to want a life that belongs to her?
On Grand Isle, among the Creole families of Louisiana, Edna Pontellier spends the summer with her young sons. Robert Lebrun’s attention stirs feelings she cannot name. Back in New Orleans, her husband Léonce expects the household to run as usual, but Edna begins to question the role she has always filled.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening follows this quiet struggle between duty and desire. Alongside the novel, selected short stories explore marriage, motherhood, race, money, and freedom in sharp scenes. In The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard receives news of her husband’s death, bringing another woman’s inner life into focus.
What you’ll discover
- A self taking shape Follow Edna as she begins to separate her own wishes from the expectations around her.
- Music that opens doors Meet Mademoiselle Reisz, whose playing moves Edna and whose independence both inspires and warns her.
- Two ways of living See Adèle Ratignolle’s devotion to family beside Edna’s growing wish for a life of her own.
- Louisiana in sharp scenes Enter a world of summer shores, city households, and social rules that shape private lives.
- An eye for irony Discover clear, cool storytelling that draws close to Edna while revealing how others see her.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love Southern settings, quiet scenes that carry strong feeling, and heroines who ask big questions. It will also please anyone who enjoys stories about love, money, marriage and freedom.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A summer resort frames a marriage and a friendship
- Small refusals and a night swim begin the change
- A day on the Chênière brings Edna's love into the open
- Back in the city, Edna stops playing her old part
- A husband, a doctor and a stranger test her course
- The novel asks what a woman owes and what she keeps
- Art, solitude and desire pull Edna toward the sea
- Chopin tells the story with irony, birds and water
- Stories of the bayou show courage, loss and pride
- Shorter pieces catch small moments of desire and choice
Who’s who
- Edna PontellierA Kentucky-born wife and mother in her late twenties who begins to want a life of her own, through art, independence and love.
- Léonce PontellierHer husband, a New Orleans broker who values order, property and good appearances, and who expects a household that runs smoothly.
- Robert LebrunA young clerk and the landlady's son, who charms the women of Grand Isle each summer and dreams of making a fortune in Mexico.
- Adèle RatignolleEdna's beautiful, motherly friend, who devotes herself to her husband and children and warns Edna to take care.
- Mademoiselle ReiszA sharp-tongued pianist who plays with passion, pushes Edna to be brave and keeps Robert's letters.
- Alcée ArobinA smooth young man of fashion with a reputation among the men, who pays Edna close attention.
- Doctor MandeletAn older family doctor, known for wisdom, who sees more in Edna than her husband does and offers his help.
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The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories
by Kate Chopin · 1899
On Grand Isle, Edna Pontellier learns to swim and starts to ask what her life is for.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What does a woman owe to everyone else, and what does she owe to herself? In 1899 Kate Chopin published a short novel that asks this plainly, and many readers of the day found it shocking.
The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 15 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h slow
- Length
- 60,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1899by Kate Chopin
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A summer resort frames a marriage and a friendship
The novel begins in the Lebrun cottages on Grand Isle, where Creole families from New Orleans spend the summer. Léonce Pontellier, a forty-year-old broker, reads a day-old newspaper and grumbles about the noise. His wife Edna walks up from the beach with Robert Lebrun, the landlady's son.
Léonce looks at Edna as one might look at a valuable possession that has been damaged, because the sun has burned her skin. He wakes her at night to hear his talk, and he scolds her for neglecting the children. Edna says nothing, and once he is asleep she sits on the porch and cries without knowing why.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1899
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-awakening-and-selected-short-stories.
Chopin, K. (2026). The awakening, and selected short stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-awakening-and-selected-short-stories (Original work published 1899)
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-awakening-and-selected-short-stories.
@book{chopin2026awakening,
author = {Chopin, Kate},
title = {The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-awakening-and-selected-short-stories},
note = {First published 1899}
}
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What is The Awakening about?
It follows Edna Pontellier, a wife and mother in Louisiana, as she starts to question the roles set for her. Through a summer at Grand Isle and the following months in New Orleans, she seeks art, independence and love.
Who is Robert Lebrun in The Awakening?
Robert is the young son of the Grand Isle landlady and a clerk in New Orleans. He spends his summers as a charming companion to women, and his friendship with Edna grows deeper than anyone expects.
What does the pigeon house mean in The Awakening?
The pigeon house is the small four-room house around the corner that Edna rents with her own earnings. It stands for her wish for independence and for a home that belongs to her alone.
The author
Kate Chopin
1850–1904 · American novelist and story writer
Kate Chopin was an American novelist and short-story writer born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1850. She lived in Louisiana after her marriage and returned to St. Louis in 1884. She published Bayou Folk in 1894 and The Awakening in 1899. She died in St. Louis in 1904.
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