In a dingy apartment on the Passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, Thã©rã¨se Raquin is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. The numbing tedium of her life is suddenly shattered when she embarks on a turbulent affair with her husbandâ's earthy friend Laurent, but their animal passion for each other soon compels the lovers to commit a crime that will haunt them forever. Thã©rã¨se Raquin caused a scandal when it appeared in 1867 and brought its twenty-seven-year-old author a notoriety that followed him throughout his life. Zolaâ's novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge, but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence.
- Genre: Fiction + Literature Themes, Fiction + Literature Genres
- Subgenre: Classics, Literary, Human Qualities + Behavior, Love + Relationships + Sex, Literary Genres + Types of Novels, Legal + Courtroom + Crime, Psychology
- Publisher: Penguin Classics
- Pages: 201
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Format: paperback
- Release Date: February 1, 2005
- Date Published: February 1, 2005
- Author: Emile Zola, Robin Buss