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Friday 7 June 2013

The Awakening by Kate Chopin



Reading, I came across these words and had to share:

“An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul’s summer day. It was strange and unfamiliar; it was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly upbraiding her husband, lamenting at Fate, which had directed her footsteps to the path which they had taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself.”

This book, about a young mother, was written in 1899, but this paragraph was as familiar to me as if it were written yesterday. I’m not there now, but I’ve been there and likely will again. As I’m sure you have been or will be. This is a reminder that all mothers have been there, which makes me feel much less alone.

Of course, this particular woman goes on to do things that are probably inadvisable if you don’t feel terribly oppressed. Anyways, it’s a remarkable, groundbreaking book about a dissatisfied mother in an era that didn’t acknowledge such a thing.

East End Mama

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