Edna Pontellier has everything that a woman and mother should want - two wonderful sons, a husband, and good financial fortune. But still, she feels like something may be missing. While vacationing with her family, she meets a young man who shows affection and opens her mind to adventure and freedom. Edna’s desire for freedom and independence begins to fester in her heart, and she finds that she is increasingly disenchanted with the responsibilities...

"The shocking death of a young woman leads Detective Dave Robicheaux into the dark corners of Hollywood, the mafia, and the backwoods of Louisiana in this gripping mystery from "modern master" (Publishers Weekly) James Lee Burke. Detective Dave Robicheaux's world isn't filled with too many happy stories, but Desmond Cormier's rags-to-riches tale is certainly one of them. Robicheaux first met Cormier on the streets of New Orleans, when the young, undersized...

In 1899 Kate Chopin stunned the literary world with the publication of The Awakening, her tale of a woman who seeks personal fulfillment in a relationship outside of her tradition-bound marriage and household. Controversial in its day, Chopin's pioneering novel served as a touchstone for many modernist works published in its wake and is regarded a landmark work of feminist literature. This collection of Chopin's fiction features the full novel and...