"The Awakening" by Kate Chopin

This spare 19th century novel tells the story of Edna Pontellier of New Orleans, who discovers she wants something more out of life. She is married to a prosperous and respectable stockbroker, but takes a lover when her husband is away on business. The story isn't that simple or simplistic, but it's close. Chopin's evocation of place and person leave something to be desired, and takes our understanding of the mores of the time very much for granted.

This doesn't seem like enough of a literary or social transgression to ruin its author's career, but that's what it apparently did. Perhaps it's the lead character's attitude throughout, that was just too much to countenance. Not recommended, not from this quarter.