The Gin Palace cover art

The Gin Palace

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About this listen

Abandoned by her lover and left to bring up their two children alone, Gervaise Macquart has to fight to earn an honest living. When she accepts the marriage proposal of Monsieur Coupeau, it seems as though she is on the path to a decent, respectable life at last. But with her husband's drinking and the unexpected appearance of a figure from her past, Gervaise's plans begin to unravel tragically.

The Gin Palace is the 7th novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, about two branches of a French family traced through several generations. Introducing one of the most sympathetic heroines in 19th-century literature, it is also the work that made his reputation.

Public Domain (P)1997 Blackstone Audio Inc. Classics Marriage

Critic reviews

"A born writer, marvelously gifted." (Guy de Maupassant)
"The Gin Palace delighted me...full of color, movement, and life." (Anatole France)
"Unsurpassable...heroically big...the intensity of her creator's vision...of the dense sordid life...is one of the great things the modern novel has been able to do." (Henry James)
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Most relevant
I loathe the voice of the narrator! he sounds very disdainful - and the translation itself is incredibly clumsy in parts - I can't believe an English person would read out something so badly translated. What a pity as i love this book. Best stick to reading the book - this audible version is very poor

dreadful narrator

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