Earth

This is one of the greatest novels Zola ever wrote, and certainly the most controversial. On its first appearance in English, the edition was suppressed and the translator prosecuted. Now, however, it is recognized as a literary masterpiece, unrivalled in its brilliant portrayal of French peasant life.

The theme is the land, and the peasants' passion for it; their obsessing greed destroys all humanity in them. Fouan, a peasant-proprietor grown too old to farm, divides his property among his three children. He lives with each of them in turn, and is victimized by each. Finally, he is horribly martyred by his youngest son.

In this novel Zola gives us realism at its starkest. He is unsparing in his details of the fierce passions and violent hatreds which rend his characters' lives. The tremendous dramatic impact of this novel grips the reader's attention with an intensity which has never been surpassed.