Heather Ostman is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute at SUNY Westchester Community College. She is President of the Kate Chopin International Society, and her books include Kate Chopin in Context: New Critical Essays (2015), Kate Chopin in the Twenty-First Century (2008), The Fiction of Junot Díaz: Reframing the Lens (2016), and Writing Program Administration and the Community College (2013).

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Chopin and Catholicism in America, 1850-1904.- 3. Social and Religious Critique and Transformation through the Short Fiction.- 4. “Catholic Modernism” and the Short Stories.- 5. At Fault: Catholic Doctrine and Social Issues.- 6. The Awakening: Challenging Authority and Rewriting Women’s Spirituality.- 7. Mysticism in Chopin’s Fiction.- 8. Conclusion.

“Ostman makes careful observations regarding Chopin's modernism and how it related early modernist movements. Her close readings of Chopin's work reveal her awareness of social, religious, and scientific issues of the time. … Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” (T. Bonner Jr., Choice, Vol. 58 (9), 2021)

Heather Ostman is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute at SUNY Westchester Community College. She is President of the Kate Chopin International Society, and her books include Kate Chopin in Context: New Critical Essays (2015), Kate Chopin in the Twenty-First Century (2008), The Fiction of Junot Díaz: Reframing the Lens (2016), and Writing Program Administration and the Community College (2013).

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Chopin and Catholicism in America, 1850-1904.- 3. Social and Religious Critique and Transformation through the Short Fiction.- 4. “Catholic Modernism” and the Short Stories.- 5. At Fault: Catholic Doctrine and Social Issues.- 6. The Awakening: Challenging Authority and Rewriting Women’s Spirituality.- 7. Mysticism in Chopin’s Fiction.- 8. Conclusion.

“Ostman makes careful observations regarding Chopin's modernism and how it related early modernist movements. Her close readings of Chopin's work reveal her awareness of social, religious, and scientific issues of the time. … Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” (T. Bonner Jr., Choice, Vol. 58 (9), 2021)

Heather Ostman is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute at SUNY Westchester Community College. She is President of the Kate Chopin International Society, and her books include Kate Chopin in Context: New Critical Essays (2015), Kate Chopin in the Twenty-First Century (2008), The Fiction of Junot Díaz: Reframing the Lens (2016), and Writing Program Administration and the Community College (2013).

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Chopin and Catholicism in America, 1850-1904.- 3. Social and Religious Critique and Transformation through the Short Fiction.- 4. “Catholic Modernism” and the Short Stories.- 5. At Fault: Catholic Doctrine and Social Issues.- 6. The Awakening: Challenging Authority and Rewriting Women’s Spirituality.- 7. Mysticism in Chopin’s Fiction.- 8. Conclusion.

“Ostman makes careful observations regarding Chopin's modernism and how it related early modernist movements. Her close readings of Chopin's work reveal her awareness of social, religious, and scientific issues of the time. … Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” (T. Bonner Jr., Choice, Vol. 58 (9), 2021)