Penguin Vitae Series 5-Book Box Set: The Awakening and Selected Stories; Before Night Falls; Passing; Sister Outsider; The Yellow Wall-Paper and Selec (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781524705800)

Kate Chopin (1851-1904) did not write until she was thirty-six years old. Her first novel, At Fault (1890), had difficulty finding a publisher, so she brought it out at her own expense. The Awakening, now her best-known work, appeared in 1899.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was born in New England, a descendant of the prominent and influential Beecher family. In 1892, she published the now-famous story "The Yellow Wall-Paper." In 1898, her most famous nonfiction book, Women and Economics, was published.

Nella Larsen, one of the most acclaimed and influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance, was born Nellie Walker on April 13, 1891, in Chicago. She began publishing stories in the mid-1920s and published her first novel, Quicksand, in 1928. Passing came out the following year.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) published nine volumes of poetry and five works of prose. She was a recipient of many distinguished honors and awards, including honorary doctorates from Hunter, Oberlin, and Haverford Colleges, and was named New York State Poet (1991-1993).