The Awakening

Edna Pontellier is once again spending the summer with her husband and children at Grande Isle, a resort for wealthy New Orleans families. But this summer is very different for Mrs. Pontellier. The sultry nights, the hypnotic, gentle lapping of the waves on the beach, the Intoxicating scent of the breezes off the Gulf— these all combine to bring strength to Edna's inner self, the person inside who she has too long stifled for her husband, family, and soci- ety. Slowly, through that fateful summer, Edna changes. Her husband doesn't understand why more and more his wife is letting her house- making duties slip and is increasingly rebel- lious. Edna herself is unable to fully explain what is happening to her, but she knows that she can no longer be untrue to herself. --back cover