Therese Raquin

by Emile Zola

Published 1 October 1970
Therese Raquin is bored by her loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, and allows herself to be swept away by lust and excitement when she meets his earthy and sensual friend Laurent. But the animal passion between them will result in a terrible crime - one that will haunt them for ever. Books that save lives come in one colour Choose (Penguin Classics) Red, Save Lives Penguin Classics has partnered with (Product) Red to bring you our selection of some of the best books ever written. We will be contributing 50 per cent of the profits from the sale of (Penguin Classics) Red editions to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Now great books can help save lives.

Nana

by Emile Zola

Published December 1957
Nana tells the story of the rise of Nana Coupeau from a street prostitute to a high class cocotte (courtesan) during the final years of the Second French Empire. Through her performance in La blonde Venus, a fictional operetta, she attracts the attention of society and proceeds to destroy every man that she encounters. Nana is the ninth volume of Zola's Rougon-Macquart series and was published in 1880. The novel depicts the moral corruption that Zola believed was the cause of the downfall of the Second Empire.