Historical Fiction

Fortune of the Rougons

by

  • 1898 first published
  • 🎧 13 h 14 min free audiobook
Listen freeFind in a library

Fortune of the Rougons is an 1898 historical fiction novel by Émile Zola.

A free LibriVox audiobook (13 h 14 min) is available.

About Fortune of the Rougons

The Fortune of the Rougons (French: La Fortune des Rougon), originally published in 1871, is the first novel in Émile Zola's monumental twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. In his introduction Zola indicates that this series is intended to demonstrate the interaction of heredity and environment along the lines of natural selection and evolution. While Zola's metascience is questionable, this novel is successful in its analysis of the interaction of momentous social and political events and the everyday lives and aspirations of a provincial society. In a satisfyingly intricate, vast and integrated plot, set in the time of Napoleon III's coup d'etat and establishment of the Second Empire, the fates and fortunes of the disparate descendents of one Provencal family are traced in detail. The novel ranges from idyll to cynical observation of base motives, and ends in a way that anticipates its many sequels. Summary by the soloist.
Description from LibriVox

Free audiobook

Fortune of the Rougons — LibriVox recording, 13 h 14 min in 16 sections.

Public-domain recording by volunteer readers. Listen online, download MP3s or stream from the Internet Archive.

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Quick answers

Who wrote Fortune of the Rougons?

Fortune of the Rougons was written by Émile Zola and first published in 1898.

What genre is Fortune of the Rougons?

It is usually shelved as Historical Fiction.

Is there a free audiobook of Fortune of the Rougons?

Yes — LibriVox volunteers recorded it; the recording runs 13 h 14 min.

What books are similar to Fortune of the Rougons?

Readers who like it often enjoy The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula and The Time Machine.

More by Émile Zola

All books →

Books like Fortune of the Rougons