The Awakening free PDF and EPUB

What is The Awakening about?

Kate Chopin's The Awakening was published in 1899. Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother, spends a summer at a Gulf Coast resort near New Orleans, where she becomes close to a charming young man, Robert Lebrun.

Back in New Orleans, Edna begins to resist the limits that marriage, motherhood and Creole society place on her. She paints, takes up independent habits and looks for a life of her own. The book was widely criticised on release and is now seen as an early American feminist novel.

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How to read it on a Kindle, Kobo or phone

Kindle: download the EPUB and send it with Amazon's Send to Kindle (web, app or email). Amazon converts it for your device. Kobo, Pocketbook, Apple Books and Google Play Books open the EPUB directly. The PDF keeps the page layout and suits printing or a large tablet.

Is The Awakening free to download?

Yes. The Awakening was first published in 1899, so it is in the US public domain. Kate Chopin died in 1904, so it is also free in the EU, where copyright ends 70 years after death. This edition comes from Standard Ebooks, which releases its texts under CC0.

What is The Awakening about?

Edna Pontellier, a married woman in New Orleans, starts to seek independence and her own identity.

Why was The Awakening controversial?

Reviewers in 1899 objected to its frank treatment of a married woman's desires and her rejection of expected roles.