Piping Hot! (Pot-Bouille): A Realistic Novel

Émile François Zola (born in Paris on April 2, 1840; died in Paris on September 29, 1902) was a journalist, a novelist, a playwright, and a political activist. He was one of the most influential French novelists of the 19th century and the founder of the literary and theatrical school of naturalism. Zola was a major figure in the political liberalization of France. Émile Zola’s works include novels, dramas, poetry, and criticism, among which is his famous ＂Les Rougon-Macquart＂ (1871-1893), a cycle of twenty novels which depict various aspects of life and society, such as ＂L’Assommoir＂ (1877), the seventh novel of the series, about the suffering of the Parisian working-class; ＂Nana＂ (1880), the ninth installment, which deals with prostitution; ＂The Ladies Paradise＂ (1883), the eleventh novel (original title: ＂Au Bonheur des Dames＂), which focuses on Octave Mouret, who, in ＂Pot-Bouille,＂ meets Caroline Hédouin, the owner of a small silk shop; and ＂Germinal＂ (1885), the thirteenth novel in the series, which depicts the mining industry and is considered by some as his masterpiece. ＂Piping Hot! (Pot-Bouille)＂ was the tenth novel of the cycle and Zola’s most sarcastic satire, which describes daily life in a newly constructed block of flats in late nineteenth-century Paris. Zola’s open letter to French president Félix Faure, under the headline ＂J’Accuse...!,＂ published on the front page of the newspaper ＂L’Aurore＂ on January 13, 1898, charging various French officials with a ＂terrible miscarriage of justice,＂ reopened the case of the Jewish army officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been sentenced to Devil’s Island. For that, Zola was himself sentenced to a year in prison but fled to England, returning one year later after Dreyfus’ name had been cleared. Dreyfus was eventually reinstated as an officer and publicly decorated with the Legion of Honor. Zola’s open letter to French president Félix Faure, under the headline J’Accuse...!, published on the front page of the newspaper L’Aurore on January 13, 1898, charging various French officials with a ＂terrible miscarriage of justice,＂ reopened the case of the Jewish army officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been sentenced to Devil’s Island. For that, Zola was himself sentenced to a year in prison but fled to England, returning one year later after Dreyfus’ name had been cleared. Dreyfus was eventually reinstated as an officer and publicly decorated with the Legion of Honor.