Kate Chopin

When first published in 1899, charges of sordidness and immorality consigned The Awakening into initial obscurity and irreparably damaged its author's literary and social reputation. In her introduction, Sandra M. Gilbert considers the issues explored in the novel and the stories from their growth out of the feminist literary tradition of the nineteenth century to their place among other concerns of fin de siècle writers in America and England.

In the summer of her 28th year, Edna Pontellier and her children, along with the wives and families of other prospective businessmen, spend the summer in an idyllic coastal community away from their husbands and the sweltering heat of 1890s' New Orleans. Aware of deep yearnings that are unfulfilled by marriage and motherhood, Edna plunges into an illicit liaison that reawakens her long dormant desires, inflames her heart, and eventually blinds her...

Comprising eleven short stories by such 19th-century American writers as Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, and Mary E. Wilkins, this breakthrough anthology celebrates a rich historical tradition in American lesbian literature. A stunning collection, this book is a milestone for anyone interested in literary history as well as gay and women's studies. -- from Amazon Writing about a range of subjects, yet sharing the theme of women loving women, these...

Medusa's daughters is a sinister Gothic delight, full of unrepentant witches, ghosts, dryads, and changelings. Goss is an expert guide to the strange codes of fin-de-siécle patriarch and the bold, monstrous women who defied them.