At Fault

By Kate Chopin

Book Overview

At Fault (1890) is a novel by American author Kate Chopin. Published at the author's expense, At Fault is the undervalued debut of a pioneering feminist and gifted writer who sought to portray the experiences of Southern women struggling to survive in an era decimated by war and economic hardship.

Th r se Lafirme is a Creole widow whose husband's death has made the Place-du-Bois plantation on the Cane River in northwestern Louisiana her sole responsibility. Struggling to survive in a region that, following the fall of the Confederacy, has failed to recover from the devastation of defeat, Lafirme agrees to sell her land's timber rights to a recently divorced businessman named David Hosmer. As the two begin to fall in love, Hosmer's sawmill causes tension in an agrarian community unaccustomed to modern industry. Hosmer proposes to Th r se, she is forced to consider the prospect of marriage against the opinion her community as well as her own moral and religious values, to set her personal desires aside in order to appease tradition. When Fanny, Hosmer's alcoholic ex-wife, re-enters the picture, trouble ensues that threatens to ruin Lafirme's reputation as an honest, hardworking woman. At Fault, like much of Chopin's work, went largely unnoticed upon publication, but has since garnered critical acclaim as a work that explores the lived experiences of women and racial minorities during a period of political and economic upheaval. Both fictional and autobiographical--Chopin was a widow of French heritage who struggled to provide for her family following her husband's death--At Fault is an underappreciated masterpiece of nineteenth-century literature.

This edition of Kate Chopin's At Fault is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1513271601
• ISBN13: 9781513271606
• Release Date: February 2021
• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

At Fault by Kate Chopin

Because I loved The Awakening, I decided to read one of Chopin's lesser-known novels, At Fault, which is set in late nineteenth century Louisiana. This novel deals with many issues, such as religion, divorce, alcoholism, and violence, in a relatively short length of text. The main characters are Therese and David, who meet through business and fall in love. David is a divorced Unitarian, and Therese, a widowed Catholic. Because of David's religion and divorce, Therese declines his eventual marriage proposal, and instead convinces him to return to his estranged ex-wife, Fanny--which proves tragic and disastrous. There are also some tertiary, though equally important characters in the story--Melicent and Gregoir, for one. Like Therese and David, they have a relationship of sorts, but Melicent will not condescend to Gregoir's advances because they are of a different class. What this novel deals quite successfully with, if such can be done, is that in our society (and especially back during the late 19th century) we are often told that we should bridle our passions lest they get the best of us. However, there are just as many consequences, and perhaps many more, for NOT going with our passions and our feelings. In containing our love for others and attempting to conduct life as if such feelings do not exist, is like a form of death and destruction--akin to William Blake's sentiment that "he who desires and acts not breeds pestilence." Once Therese realizes that David's returning to his ex-wife has caused much untold suffering--she has sort of a "Dark Night of the Soul" moment where she asks herself, over and over again, "Was I right? Was I right?" This was indeed the turning point in the novel, where I believe that Therese began to question what she knows, and what she thought she believed about what is "right." I will leave the rest of the story as a mystery for those who wish to not have it spoiled. I highly recommend this short, yet exquisitely written book.