Other authors used novels to draw their readers into critique of women's status in society. Probably the most controversial was a novel by Kate Chopin (1851-1904), The Awakening (1899), which explored the attempts of a 28-year-old woman/wife/mother to achieve sexual and personal independence within a restrictive Creole society. The book is forthright in its description of Edna Pontellier's growing awareness of her own sexuality and her determination to control her own life, and the scandal the book triggered affected Chopin for the rest of her life.