7 h 56 minAudiobook16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 56 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind a damp shop window, a young woman sits motionless in a world of dust, darkness, and silence.
In Thérèse Raquin, Émile Zola leads you into the Pont Neuf arcade, where hurried footsteps pass shops beneath a roof of grimy glass. Thérèse’s name appears in red on a mercery door. Inside, yellowing clothes hang beside wool and buttons, while a young woman’s pale face remains almost still among the goods.
Madame Raquin dozes behind the counter as a tabby cat watches. Nearby, a frail husband reads or talks quietly with his wife. Upstairs, their rooms offer little escape from the gloom. Against this cold domestic setting, Zola presents a psychological drama of passion, crime, and moral collapse, drawing your attention to the people behind the silent shopfront.
What you’ll discover
- A world that presses inward Damp tiles and weak gaslight make an ordinary shopping passage feel threatening.
- Thérèse behind the glass Her still face and wandering gaze invite you to look beneath the silence.
- The household after dark Follow the family upstairs, where familiar routines unfold beside a dark kitchen.
- Small objects, uneasy feelings Rust marks, faded ribbons, and dusty buttons give the shop its oppressive texture.
- Passion and moral collapse Enter a psychological drama that brings desire and crime into the same frame.
Who will love it
This book will please readers who like crime stories told from the inside, close studies of nerves and desire, and moody city settings. It suits anyone curious about how guilt, appetite and fear shape two people's lives.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A gloomy arcade shapes a family
- Thérèse is raised in a sickroom
- A friend arrives and a portrait begins
- Secret meetings and a daring comedy
- One word in an attic starts a murder
- A boat on the Seine and a clean report
- The Morgue and a staged proposal
- A wedding night and a house of ghosts
- What the story says about guilt and appetite
- How Zola tells the story
Who’s who
- Thérèse RaquinA quiet, controlled young woman raised in a sickroom, who hides fierce feelings behind a calm face and longs for freedom and passion.
- LaurentA big, lazy, sensual clerk and failed painter who wants to eat, sleep and live without working.
- Camille RaquinThérèse's frail, self-centered husband, a railway clerk spoiled by his mother, who admires his friend Laurent and trusts everyone.
- Madame RaquinCamille's devoted mother and Thérèse's aunt, a kind old shopkeeper who wants a peaceful family and a comfortable old age.
- MichaudA retired police commissioner and old friend of Madame Raquin who loves telling crime stories and arranging other people's lives.
- OlivierMichaud's stiff, solemn son, a clerk at the Prefecture of Police, who thinks highly of his own judgment.
- GrivetAn old railway clerk and Thursday guest, vain and foolish, who claims he can read Madame Raquin's thoughts.
- SuzanneOlivier's pale, gentle wife, who becomes Thérèse's quiet friend and keeps her company in the shop.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 56 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 16 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Thérèse Raquin
by Émile Zola · 1867
In a damp Paris arcade, a bored wife and her husband's burly friend begin an affair that leads to a drowning.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Thérèse Raquin is a novel by Émile Zola, a French writer who died in 1902. It tells of a murder and what follows it.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A gloomy arcade shapes a family
The novel opens with a long look at the Arcade of the Pont Neuf in Paris. It is a narrow passage, about thirty paces long, paved with worn tiles and roofed with glass black from grime. Nobody strolls there. People hurry through as a shortcut, and the shopkeepers watch in alarm if anyone stops at a window.
On the left side stands a mercery, a shop for needles, wool, buttons and linen caps. Its goods are yellow with age and dust, and its windows are lined with blue paper. Behind the caps, on summer days, a visitor can see the pale, still profile of a young woman with a long nose, thin lips and a large black eye. Her name is painted in red on the door. It reads Thérèse Raquin.
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What is Thérèse Raquin about?
It tells of a young woman in a damp Paris arcade who begins an affair with her husband's friend Laurent. The two plan a murder, and the novel follows how fear and guilt wear them down afterward.
Is Thérèse Raquin a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by Émile Zola, published in the nineteenth century. Zola wanted it to read like a case study of temperament and nerves, so it feels close to a report even though it is invented.
What does the scar on Laurent's neck mean?
The scar is a bite Camille leaves on Laurent during the struggle. It turns red whenever Laurent is afraid or guilty, so it stands for the physical memory of his crime that he cannot escape.
The author
Émile Zola
1840–1902 · French novelist
Émile Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet. He was born in Paris, grew up in Aix-en-Provence, and later lived in Paris and Médan. He wrote Thérèse Raquin (1867), Nana (1880), and Germinal (1885). His twenty-novel series, Les Rougon-Macquart, appeared between 1871 and 1893.
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