Jessica T. (jessicatok) reviewed on + 29 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The Barnes & Noble yellow-jacket hardcover edition, this book is sublime. Chopin's Edna Pontellier is stifled under the weight of her married life. But one summer, she changes bit by bit, leaving her housework and her duties behind. Touching, awkward, rebellious, and suffused with passion, Edna makes choices for herself that lead to a thought-provoking ending. This book stands alongside Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and Lilly Bart in "The House of Mirth." I dare to venture that The Awakening is much better than Mme Bovary, as the protagonist is much more relevant to American readers. Beautiful book, beautifully written.
