Product Description

Au Bonheur des Dames is the glittering Paris department store run by Octave Mouret. He has used charm and drive to become director of this mighty emporium, unscrupulously exploiting his young female staff and seducing his lady customers with luxurious displays of shimmering silks, satins, velvets and lace. Then Denise Baudu, a naïve provincial girl, becomes an assistant at the store, and Mouret discovers that he in turn can be charmed. With its vivid portrayal of greedy customers and gossiping staff, its lavish descriptions and sense of theatre, Au Bonheur des Dames is a rich and exciting novel. The eleventh in Zola's great cycle Les Rougon-Macquart, it is a timeless commentary on modern consumer society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105039 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-26
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

About the Author
Émile Zola (1840-1902) was the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. His principal work, Les Rougon-Macquart, is a panorama of mid-19th century French life, in a cycle of 20 novels which Zola wrote over a period of 22 years. Robin Buss is a translator and journalist. He has translated a number of works for Penguin Classics, including works by Dumas and Sartre, and most recently, Zola's L'Assommoir (The Dram-Shop). Robin Buss is a translator and journalist. He has translated a number of works for Penguin Classics, including works by Dumas and Sartre, and most recently, Zola's L'Assommoir (The Dram-Shop).

Customer Reviews

The Begining of Conspicious Consumerism
This novel is all about the first department store in Paris, built at the height of the Hausmanisation of Paris when all the property developers and speculators were making fortunes.The store is a cathedral to consumerism and introduces the new delights of browsing, impulse buying, window shopping, seasonal indulgences, taking goods home on approval, no more haggling, and very interestingly the rise of shoplifting.Having worked briefly in the retail trade I found it a facinating account of the department store as a small town, giving a clear eyed look at owners, shop workers and customers alike. The descriptions of the displays of goods on sale and the way that the owner decides on how to entice the customers is fascinating.The rise of shopping by catalogue and the servicing of the flood of orders is also very powerful.
There is a sadness as old Paris is pulled down and small shopkeepers, who had specialised in say, umbrellas and walking sticks disappear. Price wars break out and loyalties of all kinds are tested.Various romances and love stories are woven into the plot and sex is treated very casually, Zola makes no fuss about this, it just happens. Part of his realistic approach to the novel? I thoroughly enjoyed it and will now read the entire 20 books in the series.

A Must Read Classic!
A delightful tale of true love, jealousy and every day life in 19th century Paris. It's a war between small, family led shops and the big, profit orientated superstore! Among that young Denise is caught between her uncle and his family and her own feelings for the charismatic superstore owner Mr Mouret. Then everything seems to turn against Denise leaving her without a home or a job. Of course, you'll have to read it to find out what happens at the end!