Nana, the
daughter of Coupeau and Gervaise Macquart his wife (_L'Assommoir_), has
been given a part in a play produced at the Theatre des Varietes, and
though she can neither sing nor act, achieves by the sheer force of
her beauty an overwhelming success. All Paris is at her feet, and she
selects her lovers from among the wealthiest and best born. But her
extravagance knows no bounds, and ruin invariably overtakes those who
yield to her fascination. After squandering vast sums she goes to the
East, and stories spread that she had captivated a viceroy and gained a
great fortune in Russia. Her return to Paris is speedily followed by her
death from small-pox. In this novel the life of the courtesan class is
dealt with by Zola with unhesitating frankness; there are many vivid
studies of theatrical manners; and the racecourse also comes within its
scope. The work was intended to lay bare the canker which was eating
into the social life of the Second Empire and ultimately led to the
_debacle_ of 1870.
La Terre.
This is a novel which treats of the conditions of agricultural life in
France before the war with Prussia, and the subsequent downfall of the
Second Empire.
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