Kate Chopin

by Emily Toth

A biography of the author of "The Awakening" traces Chopin's life and career, portraying her as an unconventional and complex woman who lived by her own rules, and explores the ways in which her life and experiences influenced her writings

Genres: Biography

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Heather Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Chopin has had a tremendous impact on me as both a reader and a woman. An old beau gave this to me for Christmas one year.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written biography of Chopin, as interesting as her writings.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This non-fiction book (which is a signed, and possibly a first, edition) is about the life of author Kate Chopin (1850 – 1904), who first made a mark with stories about the French Creoles of the Cane River Country in Louisiana, and later as a writer trying to push the envelope on literature. It is a very good book, and one that I enjoyed reading.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on her mother’s side her family was French; her father was Irish (with the name O'Flaherty), but died when she was five years old. She was raised by the women in her family, who were high up in St. Louis society, and at intervals attended the Sacred Heart School in St. Louis. In 1870 she married a cotton factor, Oscar Chopin; they lived in New Orleans, where she had five sons. Her husband’s business failed in 1879, and they moved to Coulterville (near Natchitoches, in the Cane River Country, an area full of relatives from both families) and moved into the “old Fontenot house”. Her husband ran the general store, and her last child, a daughter, was born in the house. In the area she was known as being unconventional for the time, and Oscar Chopin died in 1872, leaving a large debt; after two years, during which time she cleared the debt (and may have engaged in an affair or two), she moved with her children back to her mother’s house in St. Louis. Her mother died the next year, and Chopin moved with the children to a house down the street. At the advice of an old friend (who had been the obstetrician who had delivered some of her children), she began to supplement her quite adequate income from rental property by writing stories, mostly based on the Creoles and Cajuns of Cane River; by the early 1890s she was having her stories and translations from the French published in magazines, and was considered to be a regional writer who provided local color. In 1890 her first novel At Fault, about a young widow and the sexual constraints of women, was published privately. Bayou Folk, a collection of twenty-three of Chopin's stories, was a success in 1894, published by Houghton Mifflin. It was the first of her works to gain national attention, and it was followed by A Night in Acadie (1897), another collection of short stories. During this time she was active in the literary and social life of St. Louis, and shocking people by her penchant for smoking cigarettes. By this time she was writing material that the magazines did not consider to be appropriate. Her last novel, The Awakening, was published in 1899 to mostly negative reviews, having to do with the main character abandoning her husband and children to engage in not one, but two liasons before killing herself. However, the book was never banned by the St. Louis library systems, and Chopin was never ostracized by local society. However, after the savagery of the negative reviews of the book, she returned to short story writing. At no time in her life did she ever make a living from her writing. She was included in the 1990 initial edition of Who’s Who, and had a season ticket to the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904; she died, at the age of fifty-four after suffering what was diagnosed as brain hemorrhage after being at the Fair on a very hot day.

I very much enjoyed reading this book; the author goes into detail as to how people that Chopin knew in Louisiana and in Missouri made their way into her stories and books. Alas, those wishing to make a Kate Chopin pilgrimage to Louisiana are out of luck; the Grand Isle Resort (visited by the main character in The Awakening, and visited by Chopin during her time living in New Orleans) was destroyed by a hurricane in 1893, and the house in Coulterville also known as the Bayou Folk Museum (opened in 1979, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993) burnt down in 2008. But Kate Chopin’s stories and books are in print, and those who love her work will enjoy this book.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reader might think that the first 528 pages Emily Toth published on Kate Chopin was sufficient. In fact, she wrote three more books spotlighting the fin de siècle author from Missouri. Toth takes readers to the mid-19th Century when Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty in 1850. Her mother, Eliza Faris, came from the Creole settlers of St. Louis. Her father was born in Ireland. He was a successful business man until his death in a train calamity that would do Gomez Addams proud. Toth imparts many details that could cause a child to sink into depression, including disrupted eduction and close proximity to a medical college that was converted to a prison during the Civil War. In fact, throughout Kate Chopin's brief life (1850-1904) she had many experiences that would feed melancholy reactions. For her, the 1870s were a whirl of marriage, European travel, adapting to society in the Deep South, dying relatives and the births of six children. After the death of her husband Oscar Chopin in 1882, she attempted to maintain his business for two years before returning to St. Louis. His real estate investments would help sustain her somewhat for two more decades. She adds to that income by writing and translating French writers, notably works by Guy de Maupassant, for American readers.

Kate Chopin was a woman who, it appears, wrote her way through her many challenges. She also had a beguiling personality which may have helped. As a widow she began marketing her short stories, poems and reviews to the era's plethora of newspapers and magazines.

Yes, there were men, but never a rumor (Toth tracks rumors quite well) that she would marry a second time. She treasured her independence, as did many of her female characters. Minor characters, like her Mademoiselle Reisz, often say meaningful things. Chapter upon chapter, Toth builds to the publication of Chopin's second novel The Awakening (1899). And, thanks to Toth, readers encounter a truly bumptious review of The Awakening penned by Willa Cather who was more than 20 years younger than Chopin. Really, Willa? Did a writer break a taboo by describing a woman whose experience led her to consider breaking one?

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

While taking a course on The Awakening, I thought I'd jump into the Emily Toth biography. This is a very comprehensive biography. Tooth has also addressed the question of why The Awakening was side-lined for so many years. It was not banned or censored, just not marketed well. When the novel was rediscovered around 1970, during the second wave feminist movement, and it became an instant find. Biography is an excellent tool for Chopin as author.