Nana

Émile Zola · 1840–1902 · France

Originally Nana (French)

Why it matters

A courtesan rises through Second Empire Paris and brings it down with her: desire as social solvent. Naturalism's most scandalous performance, and its most prophetic: the Empire's collapse is written in its pleasures.

At a glance

Vivid but straightforward naturalist prose with a clear rise-and-fall structure.