'The Rush for the Spoil' is the second novel in Zola’s 'Les Rougon-Macquart' series. It is set in Paris during the reign of Napoleon III and focuses on the modernization and …
Gervaise and Coupeau are happily married and through hard work they manage to advance in society. Until Coupeau is injured and takes to idleness, gluttony and eventually to drink. …
She is beautiful, charismatic and destroys every man who dares to pursue her. Before the character of femme fatale was coined in American cinema, Émile Zola captured the seductive …
‘Abbe Mouret's Transgression’ is the fifth novel in the ‘Les Rougon-Marquart’ cycle, following the overly zealous priest Serge Mouret in his search for spiritual purity. He lives …
'Germinal', often considered Zola’s masterpiece, tells the story of Etienne Lantier, a bright however uneducated young man with a volatile temperament who has just lost his job as …
‘The Conquest of Plassans’ is the fourth novel in the ‘Les Rougon-Macquart’ cycle, returning the reader to the fictional Provencal town of Plassans. It follows the Mouret family as …
Silk dresses, sparkling jewellery and finest textiles: the glamour of the 19th century French department store can make anyone's head spin. When the 20-year-old Denise Baudu comes …
Unique to Émile Zola's characteristic writing style , 'The Dream' feels like a fairy tale among the rest of 'Rougon-Macquart' series. It reveals the story of the orphan Angélique …
'The Monomaniac' narrates Jacques Lantiere’s perpetual yet ultimately catastrophic descent into a maelstrom of madness unfolding upon the railroads between Paris and Le Havre …
‘A Love Episode’, the eighth entry in the ‘Les Rougon-Marquart- cycle is unusual in Zola’s collection as it seemingly does not contain a social critique but instead focuses …
