Don’t take Kate Chopin off your list after The Awakening-try this one!” It’s compact story that I wish were developed further because of its originality and intrigue. It suggests questions about the rights of love when convention intervenes.”Īnd “jsgoldn” in a recent internet review writes, “If you’ve read The Awakening and could appreciate the ideas and writing, but were not as impressed with it as others tend to be, try At Fault. It speaks of love that restricts and of love that is genuine, of freedom that harms and of freedom that is livening. At Fault, Lewis Leary writes, is “a story of love and the possibilities of freedom. If, though, you want to know Kate Chopin more fully, as a woman not only way ahead of the times but as a complex, sophisticated woman of the times, then reading some of her other stories and her early novel is a good idea.Īs early as 1970, some critics were writing about the value of the book.

If you fell in love with The Awakening at some point in your life and want to preserve that magic moment by remembering Kate Chopin as you knew her from Edna Pontellier’s story or from Chopin short stories like “The Storm,” “A Pair of Silk Stockings,” “The Story of an Hour,” or a few others, then perhaps you should read no further. Should I read it? Is it any good?Ī: Yes and yes, but with qualifications. Q: I love The Awakening, but I don’t know At Fault.

Lucilla Worthington: daughter of Belle and Lorenzo.

Nathan: employee who manages the ferry on the Cane River.

Johannah: household servant of Melicent Hosmer.

Duplan she appears in “A No-Account Creole”

Ninette Duplan: daughter of Joseph and Mrs.

Duplan: wife of Joseph she appears in “A No-Account Creole” and “A Rude Awakening”

Joseph Duplan: owner of Les Chênières plantation he appears also in Chopin short stories “A Rude Awakening,” “After the Winter,” “A No-Account Creole,” and “Ozème’s Holiday”.

Marie Louise: Thérèse’s childhood nurse and attendant.

Sampson: employee of Thérèse assigned to work at Fanny’s home.

Aunt Cynthy, Suze, Mose, Minervy, Araminty: employees and relatives of employees at Place-du-Bois.

Joçint: employee of Hosmer at the sawmill.

David Hosmer: manager of the sawmill on the Place-du-Bois plantation.

Grégoire Santien: nephew of Thérèse his brothers Hector and Placide appear in Chopin stories “In Sabine,” “A No-Account Creole,” “In and Out of Old Natchitoches,” and “Ma’me Pélagie”.

Thérèse Lafirme: owner of the Place-du-Bois plantation.

Fall of a State by Kate Cotoner