The Cambridge Companion to Zola

EmileZolaisatoweringliteraryfigureofthenineteenthcentury.Hismainliteraryachievementwashistwenty-volumenovelcycle,LesRougon-Macquart(1870–93).Inthisserieshecombinesanovelist'sskillswiththoseoftheinvestigativejournalisttoexaminethesocial,sexualandmorallandscapeofthelatenineteenthcenturyinawaythatscandalizedbourgeoissociety.In1898Zolacrownedhisliterarycareerwithapoliticalact,hisfamousopenletter('J'accuse…!')tothePresidentoftheFrenchRepublicindefenceofAlfredDreyfus.ThesenewlycommissionedessaysofferreadingsofindividualnovelsaswellasanalysesofZola'soriginality,hisrepresentationofsociety,sexualityandgender,hisrelationswiththepaintersofhistime,hisnarrativeart,andhisroleintheDreyfusAffair.TheCompanionalsoincludesachronology,detailedsummariesofallofZola'snovels,suggestionsforfurtherreading,andinformationaboutspecialistresources.