Kate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty (1850-1904) was an American author of short stories and novels. She is considered by many to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century. Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognised as one of the leading writers of her time. Stephen Davis is a freelance illustrator living in Savannah, Georgia, where the history and traditions of the deep south inspire his work. Among the books he has illustrated is The Haunted History of New Orleans: Ghosts of the French Quarter, by James Caskey; The Awakening is his first commission for Real Reads. JoAnne Drake lives in Salem, Oregon, in a house full of books and cats. For several years she ran Tigress Books, Salem's independent bookstore. With a particular interest in the radical and feminist strand in American literature, she is the ideal reteller of Kate Chopin's consciousness-raising classic The Awakening.
