'At Fault', which mirrors Chopin's own life, was written at the beginning of her career and introduces characters and themes that appeared later in her accliamed novel 'The Awakening'. Set in the post-Reconstuction South against the backdrop of economic devastation and simmering racial tensions, this is the story of Therese Lafirme, a beautiful young Creole widow, who falls in love with a divorced businessman, David Hosmer. When her moral and religious convictions compel her to reject Hosmer's marriage proposal, the two are set on a tumultuous journey.