The Ladies' Paradise

Au Bonheur des Dames

By: Émile Zola

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

Zola’s The Ladies’ Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames, 1883) plays out in a colossal and opulent Parisian department store of the same name. Its owner, Octave Mouret, builds his innovative, upmarket women’s fashion empire at the expense of the city’s smaller, traditional shops.

A self-declared manipulator of women, Mouret not only plays on his female customers’ personal insecurities and social aspirations to keep his takings high, but also exploits his mostly female staff who work long hours in harsh conditions. After a difficult start, one young recruit, Denise Baudu, ends up giving Mouret much more than he bargained for.

Public Domain (P)2021 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.

Melodramatic at times but deliciously vibrant

Terrific reading of this opulent melodramatic romance about a visionary businessman and the unlikely young heroine he comes to desire largely because she is the one thing he can not easily possess.

Zola Hates Women

I wanted to read this book which had an Italian and British series adaptation into TV series’s that I loved so much. The shows took severe liberties to the point of almost no similarity whatsoever. The only conclusion I have is that Emile Zola hates women even more than his famed loathing of aristocrats. Terrible book, but Leighton Pugh gave a wonderful performance.