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<p>Owing to its highly personal content focused on feminine sexuality, this LibriVox edition was recorded by eight female readers. <br><br>The Modern Library edition of The Awakening has an introduction by Kay Gibbons, who writes: “The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Departing from literary convention, Kate Chopin failed to condemn her heroine’s desire for an affair with the son of a Louisiana resort owner, whom she meets on vacation. The power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanies the trappings of middle- and upper-class life are the themes of this now-classic novel.” – As Kay Gibbons points out, Chopin “was writing American realism before most Americans could bear to hear that they were living it.”<br><br>To give you an idea of the subject matter, Project Gutenburg catalogues The Awakening under "Adultery -- Fiction -- Women -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- Social conditions. (Summ