He had also read the _Germinie
Lacerteux_ of Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, on which he wrote an
appreciative article, and this remarkable book cannot have been without
its influence on his work. The effect was indeed immediate, for in
1865 he published his next book, _La Confession de Claud_, which showed
strong traces of that departure from conventional fiction which he
was afterwards to make more pronounced. The book was not a financial
success, though it attracted attention, and produced many reviews,
some favourable, others merciless. Influenced by the latter, the
Public Prosecutor caused inquiries regarding the author to be made at
Hachette's, but nothing more was done, and it is indeed doubtful if any
successful prosecution could have been raised, even at a period when it
was thought necessary to indict the author of _Madame Bovary_.
Zola's employers had, however, begun to look askance at his literary
work; they may have considered that it was occupying too much of the
time for which they paid, or, more probably, they were becoming alarmed
at their clerk's advanced views both on politics and literary art.
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