Was The Awakening really banned from libraries in Chopins hometown of St. Louis?
Not so far as we can tell. Emily Toth, Chopin’s biographer, tried to verify that claim—one that has been repeated for decades—but could find no evidence to support it. But it is true that The New York Times on July 6, 1902, reported that the Evanston, Illinois, Public Library had removed from its open shelves The Awakening and other books that the library board found objectionable (the article is on p. 9 of the newspaper).
