The Awakening by Kate Chopin

I was recommended this book by a friend of mine, it came out in 1899, and was immediately banned in most bookshops and libraries in the USA and brought an early end to Kate Chopin's career as an author. The fact that it survived although she never got to see a good review of it pays testament to its literary brilliance an underlying themes.
It weaves the story of Edna, a wife, a mother and a woman who has not found herself and is confused in upper-class American society in the 1890s, when she finally does find herself she is not what she is expected to be and the book comes to a shattering but brilliant end.
The book is not a normal novel, it doesn't follow a destined plot, it is a slice of life, and important slice of life book. The journey of self discovery is not made totally obvious but is more hinted at in every chapter and exposed in the final chapter. It is sad, but it is also beautiful and amazing that Chopin had the guts to publish something this scandalous in 1899. Its themes feature female relationships, marital affairs, women's rights, depression and a woman's quest to find out what she truly wants from life and how she goes about finding it. It is written beautifully, the chapters are separated out more by strains of though and remembrance than by particular subject matter which makes it all the more delightful to read and more enticing to the reader as well.
Edna is surrounded by people all through the book, that exist in a society quite peacefully that she can not seem to happily make peace with. Women in this society are happy to stay at home and receive guests, to obey their husbands, to cherish their children and not want anymore from life than domestic bliss. Chopin challenges this expectation brilliantly, and the ending made so much sense although in other ways it made very little sense.
It is definitely a product of its time. Like any other pre-20th century novel you have to put yourself to a certain extent in the shoes of the author.
Please read this book, it is brilliant!