The Awakening is one of those books whose importance in the literary canon is unquestionable, yet I find it hard to feel warm fuzzies about it or pick it up to read in my comfy chair. This edition features a new introduction by Claire Vaye Watkins which meanders from repeating a selections of facts and assertions from Emily Toth's Chopin biography (including a suggestion in a rather flippant tone that Kate may have been raped at age 13) to a discussion of "wokeness" and back again. Why not just ask Toth to write the foreword instead?

This edition also features 12 other stories that represent the breadth of Chopin's career. It is a useful version to add to a syllabus or just to get more acquainted with this irreplaceable author.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.