Audiobook · read by volunteers
Awakening
Kate Chopin (1850–1904)
Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Anita Roy Dobbs, Michelle Crandall, Caroline Mercier, Sandra in Wales, United Kingdom, Kymm Zuckert, Kristen McQuillin, Gesine · 8 chapters · 5 h 14
About the book
Edna Pontellier is a wife and mother in New Orleans society, spending the summer with her family at a Gulf island resort, when she begins to feel that her life is not entirely her own. A friendship with a young man, the music of a pianist and the warmth of the sea start to open something she had not known was there. Kate Chopin handles this inner awakening with clarity, restraint and a poet’s sense of detail. When The Awakening first appeared in 1899 it was received with shock; now it is regarded as a landmark of American fiction. Because of the personal nature of the story, this recording was made by eight women. Eight parts and just over five hours bring you a spare, sensual and quietly daring novel about independence and solitude.
Introduction
Kate Chopin, who lived from 1850 to 1904, was an American writer from St. Louis who lived for a time in Louisiana and drew on its Creole and Cajun life in her short stories. The Awakening, published in 1899, was her second novel and is by far her best known. Its subject, the inner life of a married woman who seeks a more independent existence, was bold for its day, and many contemporary critics condemned it.
The book shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Chopin, departing from literary convention, declined to condemn her heroine’s longing for a love outside her marriage. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle and upper class life are the themes of this now classic novel. The ending is best discovered on your own.
The book was neglected for decades after its first reception and was rediscovered in the middle of the twentieth century. Today it is widely read and often taught as a milestone of early feminist literature, and its prose is admired for its economy and its musical imagery.
Owing to its highly personal content, this LibriVox edition was recorded by eight female readers, including Kara Shallenberg, Anita Roy Dobbs and Michelle Crandall. It runs to eight parts and about five hours. It makes a thoughtful choice for anyone interested in women’s writing, in American regional fiction or in the beginnings of modern literature.
Public domain
Kate Chopin died in 1904: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text