The Conquest of Plassans

What It's About

Set in the fictional town of Plassans (modelled on Aix-en-Provence), the novel follows the arrival of Abbé Faujas, an outwardly austere and ambitious priest sent to win the town back to imperial loyalty after a period of clerical unrest. He lodges with the Mouret family — François, his wife Marthe, and their children — and gradually extends his influence over both the household and the town's political factions. As Faujas's grip tightens, the Mourets' quiet middle-class life begins to come apart.

Key Concepts

The fourth novel in Zola's twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle, it examines how religion and politics intertwine as tools of manipulation, and how a family can be destabilised by an outsider's quiet, patient influence. It also continues the cycle's broader interest in heredity and temperament, following members of the Rougon and Macquart branches first introduced in The Fortune of the Rougons.

About the Author

Émile Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, journalist, and playwright, and one of the central figures of literary naturalism, a movement that applied a scientific, unflinching eye to the study of society and human behaviour.

About This Edition

This is a 1917 translation by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly.