THE LADIES' PARADISE Rougon-Macquart, Book 11

Leighton Pugh offers an engrossing narration of Emile Zola's 1883 cautionary tale of capitalism and the enslavement of women to consumerism. The Ladies' Paradise, a Paris department store, is the brainchild of Octave Mouret. When 20-year-old country girl Denise Baudu arrives in Paris, she is transfixed by the amazing store and is romantically drawn to Mouret. Pugh's Parisian French is faultless as are his voices for the many characters. He excels at his delivery of Zola's exposition on women's inability to resist shopping, the economics of how one big store puts smaller stores out of business, and Mouret's revolutionary idea of using advertising to encourage patronage. Zola provides a fascinating look at nineteenth-century capitalism and changes in culture, class relations, and sexual attitudes. Pugh makes it all compelling listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2022]