Thérèse Raquin
by Émile Zola
First published 1880 · English · 252 pages
- Novels
- Love and romance
- Mystery and crime
- Essays and criticism
Thérèse is a quiet young woman raised by her aunt and married to her sickly cousin Camille. They live in a dim shop in a Paris arcade, and her life is dull and confined. When Camille brings home his friend Laurent, a robust painter, a passionate affair begins. The lovers soon find that their desires lead them into darker choices. Zola's early novel is a study in temperament, guilt and fear, and it set out the ideas of his naturalist approach. It is a short, intense and disturbing book.
Quotes
Thérèse, residing in damp obscurity, in gloomy, crushing silence, saw life expand before her in all its nakedness, each night bringing the same cold couch, and each morn the same empty day.
She made a savage, angry effort at revolt, and, then all at once gave in. They exchanged not a word. The act was silent and brutal.
The only ambition of this great powerful frame was to do nothing, to grovel in idleness and satiation from hour to hour. He wanted to eat well, sleep well, to abundantly satisfy his passions, without moving from his place, without running the risk of the slightest fatigue.