Gervaise Macquart, a laundress, arrives in Paris from Provence with her lover Lantier, who abandons her. She marries Coupeau, a roofer, and for a time the two prosper, raising their daughter Nana and opening a laundry in the working-class Goutte-d'Or district. Then Coupeau falls from a roof, begins to drink at the café called L'Assommoir, and drags the household down, while Lantier returns. Émile Zola presents alcohol, poverty, and heredity as forces that crush the family, with long scenes of the laundry, a wedding feast, and the slow decline.
It is for readers of naturalist fiction who want a harsh but humane portrait of nineteenth-century working-class Paris. It is part of the Rougon-Macquart cycle but reads on its own.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1876
- Language
- EN
