Many rising Pre-IB sophomores dread reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening after hearing horror stories from older students. Yet the book, if approached with a more open mind, can reveal a rewarding and engaging story with profound lessons about a unique time period.

Written in an elegant and descriptive style, the novel paints pictures of idyllic landscapes and their carefree denizens. The story begins with its protagonist, Edna Pontellier, on vacation at a utopian resort with her husband and children, as she struggles to reconcile her strict, Kentucky upbringing with the lassiez-faire attitude of the Creoles (into whose society she has married) towards motherhood, sexuality, and feminism.

Among the friends she makes, the many “awakenings” she has about her true role in life, and the new roles she takes in response, the reader gains a new knowledge of a formative time in American history and the rich cultural heritage of the South.