Émile Zola
Émile Zola was a pioneering French novelist and playwright, renowned for his significant role in the naturalism literary movement. Born in 1840, he is best known for his 20-novel series “Les Rougon-Macquart,” which explores the impact of environment and heredity on human behavior. Zola's work often confronted social issues of his time, and his bold defense of Alfred Dreyfus in the famous "J'Accuse" letter highlighted his commitment to justice.
Book summaries for books written by Émile Zola
Quotes
The thought of suicide was the only thing that consoled her; it was a hope, something to which she could cling; it was a refuge in which she hid from the fact of life.
Thérèse was a human beast of prey, an automaton of destruction.
The lovers were filled with a sense of false security now that they no longer had to hide their love.
The crime seemed to her a natural outcome of the conditions in which she had lived.
But no, she was not happy; she had never been happy.
She was a woman of flesh and blood, with all the desires and instincts of a healthy human being.
The reality was that she was a murderess, and her victim was always before her eyes.
She had been driven to commit a crime by the force of circumstances.
She no longer had any faith in her own destiny; she felt that she was caught in an inescapable trap.
They were bound together by a chain of guilt, and they could never break free from it.
Love is not enough to sustain a relationship; there must also be trust and respect.
Her love for him was like a fire that consumed her from within.