Characters and Plots in the Fiction of Kate Chopin

This is a perfectly serviceable book that does exactly what it sets out to do: provides summaries of the plots of Kate Chopin's works and descriptions of each of her characters in a fashion similar to Robert Gale's earlier books on Henry James (Gale, 1965), Herman Melville (Gale, 1969) and others. The book covers this relatively narrow scope with admirable depth, providing entries for every story and named character in Chopin's oeuvre. In addition to these entries, the reader will also find a handful of articles on real life individuals including several of Chopin's relatives and...