THERESE RAQUIN: Emile Zola - FULL AudioBook

THERESE RAQUIN by Emile Zola ABOUT THE BOOK: Therese Raquin is a novel (first published in 1867) and a play (first performed in 1873) by the French writer Emile Zola. The novel was originally published in serial format in the journal L’Artiste and in book format in December of the same year. Therese Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to her first cousin by an overbearing aunt who may seem to be well-intentioned but in many ways is deeply selfish. Therese’s husband, Camille, is sickly and egocentric, and when the opportunity arises, Therese enters into a turbulent and sordidly passionate affair with one of Camille’s friends, Laurent. In his preface, Zola explains that his goal in this novel was to “study temperaments and not characters“. Because of this detached and scientific approach, Therese Raquin is considered an example of naturalism. Though Zola’s third novel, it was his first to earn wide fame and made his reputation though the n