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La Reve.
Written as a "passport to the Academy," this novel stands alone among
the Rougon-Macquart series for its pure, idyllic grace. Angelique,
a daughter of Sidonie Rougon (_Le Curee_), had been deserted by her
mother, and was adopted by a maker of ecclesiastical embroideries, who
with his wife lived and worked under the shadow of an ancient cathedral.
In this atmosphere the child grew to womanhood, and as she fashioned the
rich embroideries of the sacred vestments she had a vision of love and
happiness which was ultimately realized, though the realization proved
too much for her frail strength, and she died in its supreme moment. The
vast cathedral with its solemn ritual dominates the book and colours the
lives of its characters.
La Conquete de Plassans.
The heroine of this book is Marthe Rougon, the youngest daughter of
Pierre and Felicite Rougon (_La Fortune des Rougon_), who had inherited
much of the neurasthenic nature of her grandmother Adelaide Fouque. She
married her cousin, Francois Mouret. Plassans, where the Mourets lived,
was becoming a stronghold of the clerical party, when Abbe Faujas, a
wily and arrogant priest, was sent to win it back for the Government.
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