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The Disappearance of Émile Zola: Love, Literature, and the Dreyfus Case
It is the evening of July 18, 1898 and the world-renowned novelist Émile Zola is on the run. His crime? Taking on the highest powers in the land with his open letter "J'accuse" - and losing. Forced to leave Paris with nothing but the clothes he is standing in and a nightshirt wrapped in newspaper, Zola flees to England with no idea when he will return.
This is the little-known story of Zola's time in exile. Rosen has traced Zola's footsteps from the Gare du Nord to London, examining the significance of this year. The Disappearance of Émile Zola offers an intriguing insight into the mind, the loves, and the politics of the great writer during this tumultuous era in his life.
This is the little-known story of Zola's time in exile. Rosen has traced Zola's footsteps from the Gare du Nord to London, examining the significance of this year. The Disappearance of Émile Zola offers an intriguing insight into the mind, the loves, and the politics of the great writer during this tumultuous era in his life.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2017
About the author
Michael Rosen
502 books485 followersMichael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 27, 2020
Real Rating: 3.5* of five
A very interesting digest of the paperwork, published sources, and private thoughts recorded between 13 January 1898 and Christmas 1900. The Dreyfus Affair's incredibly long shadow hasn't passed yet, the anti-"foreigner" attitude of many of the French has shifted to the Muslims. The rhetoric hasn't changed much.
Zola's response to the horror of his country's leaders, the men charged with guiding the Ship of State into safe harbor, listened to the lowest, the least, and the worst people in France, gave them something they wanted...an Other to abominate and excoriate...then put that designated scapegoat onto a ship to die in their most horrifyingly ghastly prison colony, was to scream his fury and rejection. The baseness, the injustice, the inhumanity of it, ate at Zola like acid. He was the author of a multi-volume body of work called Les Rougon-Macquart, a daringly honest and searingly realistic 20-volume cycle of tales about a clan of nothing-special French folk that earned Zola an international reputation for both talent and prurience. Reading them today, both seem reasonably accurate assessments.
So what, the guy's dead 116 years, the Dreyfus Affair happened 120 years ago.
Look around you. I would that we had a Zola to, in clear and direct prose, accuse the malefactors of our world of their crimes and, what's more, make the accusations stick. Will that be a lawyer named Mueller? Maybe...I hope so.
Rosen also includes translations of "Angelique," a "ghost story" that Zola wrote in London, as well as the stirring-if-stilted J'accuse! as it appeared in L'Aurore on 13 January 1898. If none of these events are familiar to you, go read this book immediately.
I'm stingy star-wise because Rosen's task includes the thankless one of framing his subject to people unfamiliar with the dramatis personae as well as the casus belli that got the whole thing going. As a result, he resorts to much inevitable spoon-feeding and that, I fear, caused my eyes to glaze over. It's necessary, it's even reasonably well-done, but it's bloody tedious and kept me from ever forgetting how Worthy the people were and how Relevant the warnings herein are. When my finger finds the shift key without being told to go there by my brain, we have a problem between us Author Man.
Paradoxically, that makes me want all y'all to read this book all the more! The beauty of history is that we are able to view causes and effects in their entirety; a thing obviously impossible in the present. The tragedy of history is that those who don't read it don't learn from it; a thing that could prevent the present from repeating the past verbatim. I will say this: When you read this book, you will not feel like you're being told to keep chewing that wad of kale until it goes down your throat. More along the lines of, "here's some lovely dark bread to sustain you, love, and a big pat of real butter for yummies."
A very interesting digest of the paperwork, published sources, and private thoughts recorded between 13 January 1898 and Christmas 1900. The Dreyfus Affair's incredibly long shadow hasn't passed yet, the anti-"foreigner" attitude of many of the French has shifted to the Muslims. The rhetoric hasn't changed much.
Zola's response to the horror of his country's leaders, the men charged with guiding the Ship of State into safe harbor, listened to the lowest, the least, and the worst people in France, gave them something they wanted...an Other to abominate and excoriate...then put that designated scapegoat onto a ship to die in their most horrifyingly ghastly prison colony, was to scream his fury and rejection. The baseness, the injustice, the inhumanity of it, ate at Zola like acid. He was the author of a multi-volume body of work called Les Rougon-Macquart, a daringly honest and searingly realistic 20-volume cycle of tales about a clan of nothing-special French folk that earned Zola an international reputation for both talent and prurience. Reading them today, both seem reasonably accurate assessments.
So what, the guy's dead 116 years, the Dreyfus Affair happened 120 years ago.
Look around you. I would that we had a Zola to, in clear and direct prose, accuse the malefactors of our world of their crimes and, what's more, make the accusations stick. Will that be a lawyer named Mueller? Maybe...I hope so.
Rosen also includes translations of "Angelique," a "ghost story" that Zola wrote in London, as well as the stirring-if-stilted J'accuse! as it appeared in L'Aurore on 13 January 1898. If none of these events are familiar to you, go read this book immediately.
I'm stingy star-wise because Rosen's task includes the thankless one of framing his subject to people unfamiliar with the dramatis personae as well as the casus belli that got the whole thing going. As a result, he resorts to much inevitable spoon-feeding and that, I fear, caused my eyes to glaze over. It's necessary, it's even reasonably well-done, but it's bloody tedious and kept me from ever forgetting how Worthy the people were and how Relevant the warnings herein are. When my finger finds the shift key without being told to go there by my brain, we have a problem between us Author Man.
Paradoxically, that makes me want all y'all to read this book all the more! The beauty of history is that we are able to view causes and effects in their entirety; a thing obviously impossible in the present. The tragedy of history is that those who don't read it don't learn from it; a thing that could prevent the present from repeating the past verbatim. I will say this: When you read this book, you will not feel like you're being told to keep chewing that wad of kale until it goes down your throat. More along the lines of, "here's some lovely dark bread to sustain you, love, and a big pat of real butter for yummies."
August 27, 2020
This is disappointing... I can understand why Rosen is drawn to the topic of Zola's activism in the Dreyfus case and especially how it helped to establish anti-Semitism as a point of principle - but this is a patchy book which meanders around and which also gets bogged down in the uninteresting.
Firstly, it doesn't deal in any detail with the Dreyfus case or Zola's 'J'accuse' and sketches them in very briefly as the prologue to the self-imposed exile to London in 1898. The full open letter is appended at the back which might smack of filler in a book which, in my edition, came in at around 250 pages. On the other hand, it may well encourage readers to explore further.
Secondly, after a vivid start of Zola anxiously setting out from Paris to London with no English and no luggage (not even, we're told, clean underwear - and a lovely anecdote of him miming the need for socks in an English haberdashers!), this settles into a monotone of dreary hotel rooms and endless descriptions of Zola bicycling around the country and obsessively taking photographs, his new hobby. There's some mild humour as he's appalled, of course, at English cooking, and a digest of his complicated domestic life with wife and younger mistress who is the mother of his two children but really by this stage of Zola's life Alexandrine and Jeanne have, if not completely made their peace, at least have accommodated themselves to their respective roles in his life.
The most interesting chapter strikingly is set ten years earlier as it looks at the controversies over 'obscenity' and the prosecutions of Henry Vizetelly who published English translations of Zola's works. The impact of Zola on Thomas Hardy who was forced by his own publishers to excise scenes from both Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure is notable but can't be seen as anything other than a far digression from the remit of this book.
It also seems that having stood up against the French Establishment, Zola is ready to turn away from his politically-inflected fiction towards something more utopian (there's a second appendix of his Angelique included), and some rather disturbing indications that he is supportive of French colonialism to spread 'virtue' as well as writing to promote child-bearing and against birth control.
The epilogue is a bit hagiographic as it looks forward to the deportation of French Jews during the Nazi Occupation of Paris.
So I'd say this might suit someone knowing little of Zola's life. There are lots of quotations and extracts from his letters and other writings though they're subjected to little analysis and are simply presented. A non-academic 'life' can often compensate with liveliness but sadly I found this superficial and really quite dull.
Firstly, it doesn't deal in any detail with the Dreyfus case or Zola's 'J'accuse' and sketches them in very briefly as the prologue to the self-imposed exile to London in 1898. The full open letter is appended at the back which might smack of filler in a book which, in my edition, came in at around 250 pages. On the other hand, it may well encourage readers to explore further.
Secondly, after a vivid start of Zola anxiously setting out from Paris to London with no English and no luggage (not even, we're told, clean underwear - and a lovely anecdote of him miming the need for socks in an English haberdashers!), this settles into a monotone of dreary hotel rooms and endless descriptions of Zola bicycling around the country and obsessively taking photographs, his new hobby. There's some mild humour as he's appalled, of course, at English cooking, and a digest of his complicated domestic life with wife and younger mistress who is the mother of his two children but really by this stage of Zola's life Alexandrine and Jeanne have, if not completely made their peace, at least have accommodated themselves to their respective roles in his life.
The most interesting chapter strikingly is set ten years earlier as it looks at the controversies over 'obscenity' and the prosecutions of Henry Vizetelly who published English translations of Zola's works. The impact of Zola on Thomas Hardy who was forced by his own publishers to excise scenes from both Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure is notable but can't be seen as anything other than a far digression from the remit of this book.
It also seems that having stood up against the French Establishment, Zola is ready to turn away from his politically-inflected fiction towards something more utopian (there's a second appendix of his Angelique included), and some rather disturbing indications that he is supportive of French colonialism to spread 'virtue' as well as writing to promote child-bearing and against birth control.
The epilogue is a bit hagiographic as it looks forward to the deportation of French Jews during the Nazi Occupation of Paris.
So I'd say this might suit someone knowing little of Zola's life. There are lots of quotations and extracts from his letters and other writings though they're subjected to little analysis and are simply presented. A non-academic 'life' can often compensate with liveliness but sadly I found this superficial and really quite dull.
Read
September 29, 2018A lovely little book, meticulously researched. It tells the story of French author Zola's exile in the UK. I knew vaguely about the Dreyfus affair, and was aware Zola had something to do with it, but now I've this book I have a much better understanding of both. And more than that, I have an understanding of the rabid anti-semitism that existed at that time, and which continued afterwards, to culminate in the deportation of tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of Jews from France to Auschwitz during WWII. In most cases, they were deported not by the German army, but by the French police.
Dreyfus, an army office, was wrongly accused and convicted of treason in the late 1890s, on no evidence. In fact, he was innocent, but another officer was guilty. Yet through a combination of incompetence, unwillingness to admit their mistakes, and racism, the army top brass closed ranks and refused to revise the original judgment, even when the real culprit came to light. Zola, a successful writer at the time, risked his reputation and his liberty (and possible lynching) by publicly condemning the injustice, corruption, and incompetence at the heart of the French establishment. He was sued for libel, and on the advice of his friends, took refuge in the UK while the various legal proceedings played out. He was finally vindicated (although Dreyfus himself was not; he was pardoned, but not acquitted, and the real culprit and those who had wrongly convicted him were also pardoned).
The book concentrates on Zola's life in the UK at this difficult time for him. Beyond the narrative of where and when he was, it concentrates on his family life, and how he and his unusual family (wife and concubine, and kids) coped with the stress of living undercover, of the impending threat of imprisonment and ruin, and of living as an exile in a foreign country (he didn't speak English). What is remarkable is how they all tried to carry on as usual, as much as they could in the circumstances, and Zola even used the time to complete one of his books. A reminder that people who are ready to make a public stand against what they see as wrong are nevertheless still people, with all the everyday concerns that affect all of us. That even heroes have to cope with day to day life.
In these days when anti-semitism is a political issue in the UK, it is timely to reflect on how it has developed and been perceived in other circumstances. And to reflect on how we as individuals respond to it today.
Dreyfus's granddaughter was sent to Auschwitz. The author's uncles were also sent, on the same transport. That partly explains his fascination with Zola, and his decision to write this very human book at this time.
Dreyfus, an army office, was wrongly accused and convicted of treason in the late 1890s, on no evidence. In fact, he was innocent, but another officer was guilty. Yet through a combination of incompetence, unwillingness to admit their mistakes, and racism, the army top brass closed ranks and refused to revise the original judgment, even when the real culprit came to light. Zola, a successful writer at the time, risked his reputation and his liberty (and possible lynching) by publicly condemning the injustice, corruption, and incompetence at the heart of the French establishment. He was sued for libel, and on the advice of his friends, took refuge in the UK while the various legal proceedings played out. He was finally vindicated (although Dreyfus himself was not; he was pardoned, but not acquitted, and the real culprit and those who had wrongly convicted him were also pardoned).
The book concentrates on Zola's life in the UK at this difficult time for him. Beyond the narrative of where and when he was, it concentrates on his family life, and how he and his unusual family (wife and concubine, and kids) coped with the stress of living undercover, of the impending threat of imprisonment and ruin, and of living as an exile in a foreign country (he didn't speak English). What is remarkable is how they all tried to carry on as usual, as much as they could in the circumstances, and Zola even used the time to complete one of his books. A reminder that people who are ready to make a public stand against what they see as wrong are nevertheless still people, with all the everyday concerns that affect all of us. That even heroes have to cope with day to day life.
In these days when anti-semitism is a political issue in the UK, it is timely to reflect on how it has developed and been perceived in other circumstances. And to reflect on how we as individuals respond to it today.
Dreyfus's granddaughter was sent to Auschwitz. The author's uncles were also sent, on the same transport. That partly explains his fascination with Zola, and his decision to write this very human book at this time.
December 25, 2016
'The Disappearance of Émile Zola' by Michael Rosen
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
I was interested in reading this book because recently I have completed reading the 20 volumes in the Rougon Macquart series by Émile Zola, and hence was looking forward to extending my background knowledge of Zola's life.
I found this book to be interesting. It added a lot to my knowledge of this period in the life of Émile Zola.
The parts I especially enjoyed and found interesting related to Zola and photography, to Zola and his previous visit to London a few years earlier, and to the issues leading to the trial and imprisonment of Henry Vizetelly. It was also interesting to read about the various links to the author's family. The only negative for me was that I felt that there was too much detail relating to Zola's correspondence with Jeanne.
I think that the book will be best appreciated and enjoyed by those who are already interested in Émile Zola and/or the Dreyfus Affair. I am a bit doubtful as to whether it will be of great interest to a wider audience.
Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd and to NetGalley for an ARC.
February 6, 2017
At the turn of the 19th century the famous writer, Émile Zola is fleeing from his home country of France. Carrying a nightshirt, he takes the train from the Gare du Nord, crosses the channel and heads to London. He had committed no crime, just had the audacity to take on the French government over the handling and verdict of treason handed out to a Jewish artillery officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Like many others, Zola believed he was innocent and the real culprit for handing over secrets to the Germans was another officer, Major Esterhazy. Zola’s open letter, 'J'accuse', published in L’Aurore, accused the French Army and establishment of antisemitism and injustice. The intention of this provocation was to be sued for libel so that documents in the Dreyfus case could be revealed and the innocent man freed.
It didn’t quite work out like that, hence why he was on his way to London.
Rosen has in this book revealed a fascinating little piece of history of a world-renowned writer who believed in justice and the truth. He details his movements into London and out into Weybridge, keeping a low profile, unlike his previous high profile visit where he was lauded and celebrated. We learn about the two women in his life, his wife Alexandrine and the mother of his children, Jeanne; it was a complex ménage-a-trois; He was not overly enamored with the weather in England, and loathed the food, but used some of the time here to embark on the Les Quatre Évangiles novels.
I have read a couple of Rosen’s books before, including as most parents would know well, Going on a Bear Hunt. I have never read any of Zola's novels as yet and knew almost nothing about him, but Rosen’s skill as a writer means that he has added in those little details to the narrative to show Zola’s flaws and qualities without it becoming too bogged down. Definitely, a must read for any Zola fan, I found it an interesting account of a small slice of history.
It didn’t quite work out like that, hence why he was on his way to London.
Rosen has in this book revealed a fascinating little piece of history of a world-renowned writer who believed in justice and the truth. He details his movements into London and out into Weybridge, keeping a low profile, unlike his previous high profile visit where he was lauded and celebrated. We learn about the two women in his life, his wife Alexandrine and the mother of his children, Jeanne; it was a complex ménage-a-trois; He was not overly enamored with the weather in England, and loathed the food, but used some of the time here to embark on the Les Quatre Évangiles novels.
I have read a couple of Rosen’s books before, including as most parents would know well, Going on a Bear Hunt. I have never read any of Zola's novels as yet and knew almost nothing about him, but Rosen’s skill as a writer means that he has added in those little details to the narrative to show Zola’s flaws and qualities without it becoming too bogged down. Definitely, a must read for any Zola fan, I found it an interesting account of a small slice of history.
September 1, 2024
An interesting look at Zola’s exile in England 1898-99 during the Dreyfus affair. It also discusses his work and his complicated personal life during this time. It covers his return to France up until his death in 1902. I found this a good overview of this period of Zola’s life. It also includes J’accuse in the appendix.
July 29, 2018
The Disappearance of Émile Zola covers Zola's period of exile in England during the Dreyfus Affair. I had previously read Ernest Vizetelly's With Zola in England: A Story of Exile which is a great first-hand account of events by Zola's English publisher and was published in 1899 while the Dreyfus Affair was still raging. Michael Rosen is able to add to that account by referring to Zola's correspondence and more recent works on Zola.
As we read this book we discover that Zola had a hard time in England. His home affairs were complicated as he shared his life with his wife of nearly thirty years, Alexandrine, and his mistress, Jeanne, with whom he had two children, Denise and Jacques. Zola could speak very little English and now, although a famous author, he found himself alone and in a foreign land having to hide away in damp, cramped houses and having to cope with English weather and food. He wasn't totally alone of course as Vizetelly and others were there to help him find a place to stay and to direct his correspondence back home. Zola managed to stay hidden away despite attempts by the press to track him down. Amusingly Zola was spotted almost straight away by some French actresses on tour in London but luckily this didn't get leaked to the press and he managed to remain hidden away for the whole period.
Zola wasn't to return to France until 5th June 1899, over a year since he decided to leave France. During this year he was compelled to move house several times but he managed to continue his work on the first of his novels from the Four Gospels series, Fruitfulness (Fécondité), which was published whilst he was still in England. Zola's Four Gospels were to concentrate on influencing French society rather than just documenting it. Strangely, Zola seems to be more positive than ever before. Here he is recorded by a reporter as saying:
This is a very interesting book for the Zola enthusiast and even if you've read Vizetelly's book you will find it fascinating to read. It also includes the short story that Zola wrote whilst in England called Angeline or The Haunted House which is a sort of 'non-ghost story' and the text of J'accuse is reproduced in full. I suppose the only criticism is that the Dreyfus Affair is only explained very briefly so it would be best to read up beforehand on the scandal that instigated the events laid out in this book.
On the evening of Monday, 18 July 1898, Émile Zola disappeared.Zola had been convicted for criminal libel following the publication in January 1898 of his explosive article J'accuse. In this article Zola claimed that Dreyfus had been falsely convicted of espionage by the army, that evidence had been fabricated and kept secret from the defence, that the guilty person, Major Esterhazy, was protected by the army and that Dreyfus was convicted because of anti-Semitism in the army. All of this was true but that did not stop Zola from being prosecuted. Zola had hoped that his trial would result in a re-trial of Dreyfus but this failed as the military and judiciary closed ranks. Zola faced a year in prison but was persuaded by his lawyer to flee to England instead.
As we read this book we discover that Zola had a hard time in England. His home affairs were complicated as he shared his life with his wife of nearly thirty years, Alexandrine, and his mistress, Jeanne, with whom he had two children, Denise and Jacques. Zola could speak very little English and now, although a famous author, he found himself alone and in a foreign land having to hide away in damp, cramped houses and having to cope with English weather and food. He wasn't totally alone of course as Vizetelly and others were there to help him find a place to stay and to direct his correspondence back home. Zola managed to stay hidden away despite attempts by the press to track him down. Amusingly Zola was spotted almost straight away by some French actresses on tour in London but luckily this didn't get leaked to the press and he managed to remain hidden away for the whole period.
Zola wasn't to return to France until 5th June 1899, over a year since he decided to leave France. During this year he was compelled to move house several times but he managed to continue his work on the first of his novels from the Four Gospels series, Fruitfulness (Fécondité), which was published whilst he was still in England. Zola's Four Gospels were to concentrate on influencing French society rather than just documenting it. Strangely, Zola seems to be more positive than ever before. Here he is recorded by a reporter as saying:
Ah! how this crisis has done me good! How it's made me forget the self-glorifying vanity to which I—like many others—become attached! And how it's opened up my life, along with problems and profundities that I didn't ever suspect! I want to devote all my efforts to the liberation of man. I wish that we could all put ourselves up for the test that our group of humanity might come out of this being braver and more fraternal...Once he'd moved out of London both Alexandrine and Jeanne were able to visit Zola during this period, albeit at separate times. As he became more settled he was able to enjoy his new passions of cycling and photography and included in this book are several of Zola's photographs of England and of his visiting family. Rosen's book also includes many extracts from Zola's correspondence with Alexandrine, Jeanne and his children. These letters help us to understand his unorthodox homelife and how he tried to please everyone. Alexandrine must have found the situation very difficult but she and Zola were still in love and she continued to adminster his affairs in Paris. Zola's letters to Alexandrine and Jeanne show that he cared for them both.
This is a very interesting book for the Zola enthusiast and even if you've read Vizetelly's book you will find it fascinating to read. It also includes the short story that Zola wrote whilst in England called Angeline or The Haunted House which is a sort of 'non-ghost story' and the text of J'accuse is reproduced in full. I suppose the only criticism is that the Dreyfus Affair is only explained very briefly so it would be best to read up beforehand on the scandal that instigated the events laid out in this book.
January 17, 2017
This was a great book, a fantastic biography and such a pleasure to read. The research blew my mind, all the newspaper stories, ads, letters. It was also a quick read, an interesting life story and an insightful look into relationships. I appreciated the care with which the author revealed aspects of Zola's life.
November 27, 2019
This is a very comprehensive account of the little known period of Zola’s life, when he was suffering from the fallout from the Dreyfus affair after publishing J’Accuse, was facing imprisonment and fled to England. It’s meticulously researched and is especially informative about Zola’s domestic circumstances - he alternated between living with his wife and a younger mistress with whom he had two children. His wife knew about this second family and, while it was obviously painful to her, she accepted it as she and Emile had not been able to have children.
As well as the continuing struggle to free Dreyfus, there is also an examination of Zola’s novels and the problems he had, especially in Britain, with censorship. Zola comes across as a hugely sympathetic man and a major influence on the fight for human rights and against racism and anti-semitism. The only weakness in the book is that Zola’s frequent letters to his two ‘wives’ become rather repetitive.
As well as the continuing struggle to free Dreyfus, there is also an examination of Zola’s novels and the problems he had, especially in Britain, with censorship. Zola comes across as a hugely sympathetic man and a major influence on the fight for human rights and against racism and anti-semitism. The only weakness in the book is that Zola’s frequent letters to his two ‘wives’ become rather repetitive.
April 3, 2022
I picked this up for a perspective on the Drefus affair and on Zola himself. These were not well explored. The book is painstakingly researched, but its terms are narrowly defined. The result is a highly specialised inquiry into the dry empirical facts around Zola's movements in his years of exile. The first half of the book in particular contains masses of repetitive detail about, to take a few, Zola's exploring the parks around London hotels, his interest in photography, and his correspondence with Jeanne about commonplaces like his son's academic progress. There is far too much of this kind of thing, and it doesn't throw light onto what was at stake in a politically complex situation. The second half of the book is better because it skims past some interesting topics, including Zola's interaction with socialist leaders Jaures and Beer, and the impact this had on anti-semitism in French socialism. It also touched on literary censorship on the continent and in England. But these were mere glances and were not properly developed.
July 28, 2019
I picked up this book in a local library, I remembered seeing it at The Hay Festival a couple of years ago.
I love Emile Zola’s books, and admire the children’s poet Michael Rosen who has written this book. The book is an account of the infamous ‘Dreyfus’ case which was headline news in the late 19th century. It forced Zola to hide out in England for a while whilst the case was still being fought in the Parisian courts.
It is interesting to see how a very famous writer, widely recognised by the public (think JK Rowling famous) who doesn’t speak a word of English, and is trying not to be recognised just in case the French authorities catch him and haul him back to the French courts, will succeed in suburban England. Some parts of this book are funny and some are very sad. I won’t tell you what happens, a quick search on the internet would answer all, but I would say this book is well written and researched by Rosen, and I learnt more about this amazing writer than I knew before.
I love Emile Zola’s books, and admire the children’s poet Michael Rosen who has written this book. The book is an account of the infamous ‘Dreyfus’ case which was headline news in the late 19th century. It forced Zola to hide out in England for a while whilst the case was still being fought in the Parisian courts.
It is interesting to see how a very famous writer, widely recognised by the public (think JK Rowling famous) who doesn’t speak a word of English, and is trying not to be recognised just in case the French authorities catch him and haul him back to the French courts, will succeed in suburban England. Some parts of this book are funny and some are very sad. I won’t tell you what happens, a quick search on the internet would answer all, but I would say this book is well written and researched by Rosen, and I learnt more about this amazing writer than I knew before.
April 24, 2019
Excellent book!! I found this book so engaging and informative! It shed lights on unknown private and intimate aspects of Emile Zola's life. I highly recommend it!
March 10, 2024
I picked up this book at the Crow-on-the-Hill Bookshop in Crystal Palace. I thought it extended my knowledge of the Dreyfus affair that had run through my reading and recent reviews of Proust on my blog. Its mainly about Émile Zola’s period of self-exile in Britain around 1898 after he had written ‘J’Accuse’ which caused widespread outrage with its accusation of the French establishments gross injustice and anti-semitism. It turned out that the spaces Zola inhabited in England are the some of the same spaces that I inhabit today. From Walton and Weybridge to Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace. He was there with his camera and bike whilst at the same time writing his new novel Fécondité.
Rosen tells us tons of interesting things about Zola and about the relation of the non-Jewish world to the virulent anti-semitism in France at that time. In the latter part of the book there is also a good deal of stuff about the censorship of Zola’s work on grounds of poor taste and about the wider censorship of the literature of the late C19th that I had not read about in spite of my 1993 book on Good Taste.
My criticism of this book, and why it doesn’t get a 5 star rating from me, is that it gets maddeningly repetitive about the somewhat strained and banal relationship between Zola, his two partners and his two children whilst he is hiding out in the outskirts of London. I suppose it adds to the depth of our understanding of Zola from his letters, but it’s still too much detail for a casual reader such as myself (Zola aficionados will almost certainly love it).
Before he got involved in the Dreyfus case Zola had a written an essay (Le Figaro le 16 mai 1896) ‘Pour les Juifs’ in which he had called for an end to anti-semitism. p.16
We should remember that Zola wrote his novels informed by the latest sociological and socio-medical research texts. His photography was a parallel practice of apprehending reality in the most objective way. The novel he wrote in the South London suburbs that was published in 1899 was the first part of a planned trilogy; Fécondité argued for an increased birth rate in contrast to some Fabians and others in UK who were arguing for birth control, sterilisation and eugenics as a solution to poverty.
The second volume Travail (1901) would take up the utopian socialist work of Charles Fourier and the third Justice (unfinished) would argue for an alliance of all nations. Finally a fourth volume was added: Vérité (published posthumously in 1903), which was about the Dreyfus trial. These four make up the quartet known as The Four Gospels.
Prior to J’Acccuse he was famous for exposing the raw sores of the world of the poor without suggesting solutions. “He had explored their daily existence in minute material detail, along with their passions, sex lives and ways of dying.” p.90 This method and style was dubbed ‘Naturalism’ by Zola, which he claimed was an objective analysis of human psychology. However his characters are often criticised as being cardboard compared to, say, Dickens. None-the-less his crowd scenes are known to convey a vivid sense of reality. (I can see how Naturalism must have influenced Proust and it is clear that Zola’s stand inspired him.) “Naturalist writers sought to inform themselves with the latest, most accurate, most scientifically reliable data and observations.” p.91
It occurs to me that his descriptions of squalid lives and demi-monde behaviour is a way of bringing social conditions to the notice of the bourgeoisie for structural adjustments rather than empowering the working class, who are already well aware of their own social conditions. Then again I read that:
“Fifty thousand people followed behind Émile Zola’s funeral procession on 5 October 1902, and among them a delegation of miners from the Denain coalfield rhythmically chanted, ‘Germinal! Germinal!’ through the streets of Paris. Even today, the novel has a special place in the folklore of the mining communities of France.” (from the Introduction by Robert Lethbridge to Germinal, translated by Peter Collier, an Oxford World’s Classics, 1993, reissued 2008, p.vii)
So perhaps simply being represented in literature is something a group of workers appreciate as an acknowledgement of their existence and worthiness as a subject of art.
For this reason it seems to be an important date in the timeline I am wanting to construct on Humanism.
The Dreyfus Affair.
In France at the time there was an extremely anti-Semitic press led by Édouard Drumont and his paper La Libre Parole. Piers Paul Read (The Dreyfus Affair, 2012) suggests that Drumont was able to intimidate people with the invective, or what we would now call hate speech, in his newspaper. It is only when we understand this that we can see why J’Accuse on the front page of a rival newspaper was such a decisive and fearless move.
Quite apart from anti-semitism there was also a general disbelief that the French High Command of the Army could be so duplicitous as to manufacture false evidence to prove the treason of Alfred Dreyfus. ‘Given that much of what he wrote was inevitably conjecture, Zola’s pamphlet was a remarkably accurate summary of the Dreyfus Affair.’ PP Read (2012)
It caused Zola to be put on trial for defamation. He lost the case, and then lost again appeal. It was then that he was advised to go to England rather than be imprisoned. This flight to self exile is the starting point for Michael Rosen’s book.
Rosen describes Zola’s influence on the influential Socialist leader Jean Jaurès which wins him over to actively defend Dreyfus. Jaurès see’s Zola’s works as exposing oppression.
Michael Rosen argues that the crucible of the Dreyfus Affair brought Jaurès to an awareness of the irrationality and danger of anti-semitism. The problem socialist had had before was that Dreyfus was not working class - he was captain. But, with help from Zola, the affair was gradually seen as a protest against the corrupt social order rather than simply a case of injustice against an individual. In 1898 Jaurès published ‘The Proof: The Dreyfus Affair’.
Literary Good Taste in London
(for more on the NVA see: Censored: a literary history of subversion and control, Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis, 2017)
New mass readerships were being created following the 1870 Education Act. Working class women readers were seen to be in particular danger. There was also the Social Purity Alliance who worried about the minds of the young being poisoned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_...
W.T. Stead’s campaign led to Zola’s English publisher being put on trial in 1888 and1889 and finally imprisoned. The book that Zola wrote in the London suburbs couldn’t be published here! Rosen even claims that a large part of Fécondité has yet to be published in English! It was considered to be in the ‘grossest bad taste’.
But does this hope of humanism cloak an elitism that maintains class inequalities within a literary meritocracy? (This is not an argument that MR is making in this book - I should add)
At times Zola thought France should be an enlightened coloniser so in that sense he is still a man within the mind cage of his time and class. Although his ideas point towards our post-colonial present. In the same vein is his depiction of women and his expectation of their roles. Rosen illustrates this with the details, from his letters home, of his gendered expectations of his son and daughter.
I’m also now reminded of Carol Finer’s memorable performances of an Improvisation Rite by Cornelius Cardew called ‘Stupid Book!' (CCSBR7) (See my book Improvisation Rites 2018, p.48). Carol was incensed by Zola’s depiction of women.
Conclusion
https://stefan-szczelkun.blogspot.com
“We have to imagine many afternoons of Zola’s stay in Norwood with him loading his camera into the front basket of a bike and cycling out of the Queens hotel to seek scenes to snap. His attention was drawn to the busy streets around Church Street, catching shoppers, horses-and-carts, shop displays, and workers laying electricity cables along the street.” p.88
Rosen tells us tons of interesting things about Zola and about the relation of the non-Jewish world to the virulent anti-semitism in France at that time. In the latter part of the book there is also a good deal of stuff about the censorship of Zola’s work on grounds of poor taste and about the wider censorship of the literature of the late C19th that I had not read about in spite of my 1993 book on Good Taste.
My criticism of this book, and why it doesn’t get a 5 star rating from me, is that it gets maddeningly repetitive about the somewhat strained and banal relationship between Zola, his two partners and his two children whilst he is hiding out in the outskirts of London. I suppose it adds to the depth of our understanding of Zola from his letters, but it’s still too much detail for a casual reader such as myself (Zola aficionados will almost certainly love it).
Before he got involved in the Dreyfus case Zola had a written an essay (Le Figaro le 16 mai 1896) ‘Pour les Juifs’ in which he had called for an end to anti-semitism. p.16
We should remember that Zola wrote his novels informed by the latest sociological and socio-medical research texts. His photography was a parallel practice of apprehending reality in the most objective way. The novel he wrote in the South London suburbs that was published in 1899 was the first part of a planned trilogy; Fécondité argued for an increased birth rate in contrast to some Fabians and others in UK who were arguing for birth control, sterilisation and eugenics as a solution to poverty.
“In the summer of 1898 from Weybridge, Zola was planning on giving the fiction-reading public graphic depictions of abortion, sterilisation, contraception, baby-abandonment, baby-farming, wet-nursing and infanticide, the like of which, outside of academic circles, had never been read before.” p.59
The second volume Travail (1901) would take up the utopian socialist work of Charles Fourier and the third Justice (unfinished) would argue for an alliance of all nations. Finally a fourth volume was added: Vérité (published posthumously in 1903), which was about the Dreyfus trial. These four make up the quartet known as The Four Gospels.
Prior to J’Acccuse he was famous for exposing the raw sores of the world of the poor without suggesting solutions. “He had explored their daily existence in minute material detail, along with their passions, sex lives and ways of dying.” p.90 This method and style was dubbed ‘Naturalism’ by Zola, which he claimed was an objective analysis of human psychology. However his characters are often criticised as being cardboard compared to, say, Dickens. None-the-less his crowd scenes are known to convey a vivid sense of reality. (I can see how Naturalism must have influenced Proust and it is clear that Zola’s stand inspired him.) “Naturalist writers sought to inform themselves with the latest, most accurate, most scientifically reliable data and observations.” p.91
It occurs to me that his descriptions of squalid lives and demi-monde behaviour is a way of bringing social conditions to the notice of the bourgeoisie for structural adjustments rather than empowering the working class, who are already well aware of their own social conditions. Then again I read that:
“Fifty thousand people followed behind Émile Zola’s funeral procession on 5 October 1902, and among them a delegation of miners from the Denain coalfield rhythmically chanted, ‘Germinal! Germinal!’ through the streets of Paris. Even today, the novel has a special place in the folklore of the mining communities of France.” (from the Introduction by Robert Lethbridge to Germinal, translated by Peter Collier, an Oxford World’s Classics, 1993, reissued 2008, p.vii)
So perhaps simply being represented in literature is something a group of workers appreciate as an acknowledgement of their existence and worthiness as a subject of art.
“Zola's 1898 article is widely marked in France as the most prominent manifestation of the new power of the intellectuals (writers, artists, academicians) in shaping public opinion, the media and the state” Wikipedia entry on Emile Zola.
“It was a moment when the idea that a novelist could write about contemporary life and politics and could try to grasp the essence of an Epoque started to be appreciated.” p. 108/9
For this reason it seems to be an important date in the timeline I am wanting to construct on Humanism.
The Dreyfus Affair.
In France at the time there was an extremely anti-Semitic press led by Édouard Drumont and his paper La Libre Parole. Piers Paul Read (The Dreyfus Affair, 2012) suggests that Drumont was able to intimidate people with the invective, or what we would now call hate speech, in his newspaper. It is only when we understand this that we can see why J’Accuse on the front page of a rival newspaper was such a decisive and fearless move.
Quite apart from anti-semitism there was also a general disbelief that the French High Command of the Army could be so duplicitous as to manufacture false evidence to prove the treason of Alfred Dreyfus. ‘Given that much of what he wrote was inevitably conjecture, Zola’s pamphlet was a remarkably accurate summary of the Dreyfus Affair.’ PP Read (2012)
It caused Zola to be put on trial for defamation. He lost the case, and then lost again appeal. It was then that he was advised to go to England rather than be imprisoned. This flight to self exile is the starting point for Michael Rosen’s book.
Rosen describes Zola’s influence on the influential Socialist leader Jean Jaurès which wins him over to actively defend Dreyfus. Jaurès see’s Zola’s works as exposing oppression.
Michael Rosen argues that the crucible of the Dreyfus Affair brought Jaurès to an awareness of the irrationality and danger of anti-semitism. The problem socialist had had before was that Dreyfus was not working class - he was captain. But, with help from Zola, the affair was gradually seen as a protest against the corrupt social order rather than simply a case of injustice against an individual. In 1898 Jaurès published ‘The Proof: The Dreyfus Affair’.
“The point here is that the campaign against the imprisonment of Dreyfus, and Zola’s part in it, were helping to create a new kind of politics. This new politics was combining ideas that were internationalist, against poverty, against injustice and against what we now call racial discrimination – four ideas that hadn't always sat together in one worldview.” p.168
Literary Good Taste in London
“The editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, W.T. Stead, founded an organisation called the National Vigilance Association (NVA), which set up a Literary Sub-committee to keep an eye on immoral writing. The NVA brought prosecutions against Henry Vizetelly for publishing Zola’s novels, some of which had prefaces written by George Moore.” p.175
(for more on the NVA see: Censored: a literary history of subversion and control, Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis, 2017)
New mass readerships were being created following the 1870 Education Act. Working class women readers were seen to be in particular danger. There was also the Social Purity Alliance who worried about the minds of the young being poisoned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_...
W.T. Stead’s campaign led to Zola’s English publisher being put on trial in 1888 and1889 and finally imprisoned. The book that Zola wrote in the London suburbs couldn’t be published here! Rosen even claims that a large part of Fécondité has yet to be published in English! It was considered to be in the ‘grossest bad taste’.
“None of these issues stand on their own, they were linked to the question of the social order. Those who were opposed to Zola’s fiction felt that he undermined the order, the implication being that Fiction has or should have a role in sustaining the status quo and he was betraying that role.” p.194
“Above the secular hatreds of races, the accidental misunderstandings of peoples, the interests and jealousies which trouble Empires and Republics, there is a kingdom serene and calm, vaster than any, immense, containing them all – the kingdom of human intelligence, of letters, and of universal humanity.” Emile Zola address to the institute of Journalists 1893 Crystal Palace great dining hall. p.94.
But does this hope of humanism cloak an elitism that maintains class inequalities within a literary meritocracy? (This is not an argument that MR is making in this book - I should add)
At times Zola thought France should be an enlightened coloniser so in that sense he is still a man within the mind cage of his time and class. Although his ideas point towards our post-colonial present. In the same vein is his depiction of women and his expectation of their roles. Rosen illustrates this with the details, from his letters home, of his gendered expectations of his son and daughter.
I’m also now reminded of Carol Finer’s memorable performances of an Improvisation Rite by Cornelius Cardew called ‘Stupid Book!' (CCSBR7) (See my book Improvisation Rites 2018, p.48). Carol was incensed by Zola’s depiction of women.
Conclusion
“Finding himself in conflict with left and right over the matter of anti-Semitism, he established a line of argument from outside Judaism, outside the Jewish communities, as to why prejudice, discrimination and persecution were wrong. I don't think that the importance of this can be overestimated.” p.239
“No matter how odd or imperfect Zola’s arguments against racism towards Jews were, they remain one of the few examples at this time of a non-Jew taking a stance against anti-Semitism.” p.219
“It is a crime to poison the minds of the meek and humble, to stoke the passions of reactionism and intolerance, by appealing to the odious anti-Semitism that, unchecked, will destroy the freedom loving France of the Rights of Man. It is a crime to exploit patriotism in the service of hatred, and it is, finally, a crime to ensconce the sword as the modern God, whereas all science is toiling to achieve the coming era of truth and justice.” 1898. Zola’s own words from J’Accuse.
https://stefan-szczelkun.blogspot.com
August 28, 2021
If you want to know who Zola spoke to and how he spent his time in London, this book is for you.
For me the interest lay in his family relationships , which were unusual, but I skim read the rest. Perhaps I am being unfair as I was given the book to read for Book club, and Zola fans might eat this up, but I don't think it does enough to be a good read for the general reader.
For me the interest lay in his family relationships , which were unusual, but I skim read the rest. Perhaps I am being unfair as I was given the book to read for Book club, and Zola fans might eat this up, but I don't think it does enough to be a good read for the general reader.
March 4, 2024
A very interesting journey through the life of Emile Zola in his exile from Paris to England. I wasn’t aware of Zola and needed to catch up a bit to get into the book. But his life was so interesting and quirky to be worth it. The two appendices are also worth reading, one the short story of a haunted house which he wrote in his exile and the other the letter ‘J’Accuse’ which he wrote to the President and which catalysed his exile.
January 5, 2019
Zola was the first writer I fell in love with. I had no idea his work was considered pornographic in the UK and that his translator had been sent to prison because of this. I also didn't know that he spent a year in London, fleeing after the verdict of his trial following his article "J'Accuse" because his life in anti-semitic France was in danger... 5 years earlier, he had been invited to speak about his work in London and he had been pleased with life there (and it's exciting to know that he met Henry James and Oscar Wilde, two of my favourite writers...). In exile, everything seems grim. He feels lonely. He has to keep to his hotel or the little house he rents. He can't speak English so even basic errands are a burden to him. His family and friends back in France are constantly threatened. The four Gospels are the only work that I've never read and now I know in what circumstances he wrote the first one, Truth, I'm curious. It's funny that England made such an impression on him that he wrote the short story Angeline or the haunted house, which reads like a tale by Poe at first and doesn't look like anything he's written before but then turns back to the search for truth so important for him.
January 15, 2017
Meticulously researched and demonstrating an obvious, and deserved, admiration for his subject, Michael Rosen’s account of Emile Zola’s stay in London whither he had fled from his native France to avoid the fallout from his defence of Dreyfus opens up a little known episode of the writer’s life. It’s a really interesting book, for sure, but I found it perhaps a little too detailed at times, which slowed the narrative down on occasion. Rosen quotes extensively form Zola's letters to his children, for example, encouraging them to do better at school and so on, and although this aspect of the private Zola holds a certain fascination it all became a bit repetitive at times. Rosen largely succeeds in making his subject come alive but overall there could have been a bit of editing to make the tale rattle along at a more compelling pace.
March 8, 2017
Michael Rosen always writes interesting and informative books on many subjects and I always make a point to listen to his radio programmes when broadcast.
Emil Zola's escape from France is a subject that I don't know much about, but I imagine it shows a side to him which will be surprising to many.
A great read and highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Faber and Faber via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
Emil Zola's escape from France is a subject that I don't know much about, but I imagine it shows a side to him which will be surprising to many.
A great read and highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Faber and Faber via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
December 16, 2019
When Zola came to Crystal Palace!...not Gianfranco but Emile the novelist...in 1898...escaping the aftermath of the Dreyfus case & 'J'Accuse!'...& fighting depression & suffering home-sickness...with his pen, his cameras & his bicycle.England was a source of some dismay & bewilderment, but he survived the weather, the language & the food! A very interesting episode in French literary history...when tastes were changing rapidly...& anti-semitism was rearing its ugly head in republican circles.
December 15, 2017
Zola and the Dreyfus Affair
My thanks to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my advance reading copy of this book. You ladies rock!
In 1894 French Intelligence was made aware of an unnamed French Officer who was sending state secrets to German Intelligence. The investigation into the case was prejudiced from the start. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was accused, court-martialed, convicted, and sent to Devil’s Island in French Guiana on flimsy evidence. The deciding factor in the alleged treason charges brought against Dreyfus seemed to be that he was Jewish.
Emile Zola, a French novelist, playwright, and journalist then published an 1898 article in the Paris daily L'Aurore titled J’Accuse in defense of Dreyfus. The article pointed out what Zola perceived to be corruption and anti-Semitism on the part of the government and military. His championing of Dreyfus was not easy for him and would cost him dearly.
In this book author Michael Rosen does an excellent job of bringing out the drama of this advent. He describes Zola’s flight to London and the pressure that Zola’s actions brought upon him. At times discouragement and even a stark loss of hope plagued Zola. The author paints a picture of Zola that allows the reader to sympathize with both Zola and Dreyfus. Zola continued to write and publish during his exile. They are very demonstrative of his continued protest against corruption in politics and the military.
This book makes it clear that Zola’s bravery in drawing attention to the plight of a loyal Captain Dreyfus sowed the seeds of Dreyfus’ release. In the end, the actions of Zola and other writers caused the complete exoneration and reinstatement of Dreyfus into the Military with a rank increase to Major.
The book is well written, painstakingly researched and very informative but I cannot help but feel that it is perhaps better suited to use as research material. Was I charged with writing a paper of any sort about the Dreyfus Affair, this book would become invaluable. When it comes to being a book to read and enjoy, not so much.
I will give the book three stars, basing the score more on the book’s merit and less on my own enjoyment of the volume…
Quoth the Raven…
My thanks to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my advance reading copy of this book. You ladies rock!
In 1894 French Intelligence was made aware of an unnamed French Officer who was sending state secrets to German Intelligence. The investigation into the case was prejudiced from the start. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was accused, court-martialed, convicted, and sent to Devil’s Island in French Guiana on flimsy evidence. The deciding factor in the alleged treason charges brought against Dreyfus seemed to be that he was Jewish.
Emile Zola, a French novelist, playwright, and journalist then published an 1898 article in the Paris daily L'Aurore titled J’Accuse in defense of Dreyfus. The article pointed out what Zola perceived to be corruption and anti-Semitism on the part of the government and military. His championing of Dreyfus was not easy for him and would cost him dearly.
In this book author Michael Rosen does an excellent job of bringing out the drama of this advent. He describes Zola’s flight to London and the pressure that Zola’s actions brought upon him. At times discouragement and even a stark loss of hope plagued Zola. The author paints a picture of Zola that allows the reader to sympathize with both Zola and Dreyfus. Zola continued to write and publish during his exile. They are very demonstrative of his continued protest against corruption in politics and the military.
This book makes it clear that Zola’s bravery in drawing attention to the plight of a loyal Captain Dreyfus sowed the seeds of Dreyfus’ release. In the end, the actions of Zola and other writers caused the complete exoneration and reinstatement of Dreyfus into the Military with a rank increase to Major.
The book is well written, painstakingly researched and very informative but I cannot help but feel that it is perhaps better suited to use as research material. Was I charged with writing a paper of any sort about the Dreyfus Affair, this book would become invaluable. When it comes to being a book to read and enjoy, not so much.
I will give the book three stars, basing the score more on the book’s merit and less on my own enjoyment of the volume…
Quoth the Raven…
July 4, 2022
I thought this might be interesting to read for my library book group's theme of 'Treason and Treachery' (alongside CJ Sansom's Dark Fire) It shows the breadth of Michael Rosen's interests and talents that he should be capable of We're Going on a Bear Hunt and this and all points in between.
I am not entirely sure I enjoyed this account focussing mostly on Zola's flight to England and his sojourn there after a conviction for libel in connection with his defence of Dreyfus. Rosen's explicitly aware at the end that whilst he views Zola as a brave man who got into something he really didn't have to, purely for the sake of justice, and suffered a good deal as a result, his account manages also to portray him quite negatively - a man wanging on ad nauseam about bad English cooking, writing nagging letters about his children's studies in a spectacularly dubious fashion, and who caused one woman in particular and arguably two, immense emotional pain.
Alexandrine, his legal wife, comes out of the book as a stoic and a heroine, as Rosen intends. The Vizetelly family shine too - Ernest, Zola's translator and friend, and his publisher father who went to prison for publishing Zola's work. Rosen's subject is not however a comparatively bad man, especially in the context of his time, his class and his milieu... and indeed the book makes for an interesting parallel with contemporary situations. You can imagine that deprived of the level of parenting which had previously been available to him and with time on his hands, Zola's love and concern for both his children was funnelled into a distorted obsession with their academic success, with him suggesting to Jeanne their mother that she should motivate them by telling them they will be loved less if they do not do well.
Zola's position in relation to his friends is an interesting one and Rosen shows him somewhat at the mercy of their counsel.
I am not entirely sure I enjoyed this account focussing mostly on Zola's flight to England and his sojourn there after a conviction for libel in connection with his defence of Dreyfus. Rosen's explicitly aware at the end that whilst he views Zola as a brave man who got into something he really didn't have to, purely for the sake of justice, and suffered a good deal as a result, his account manages also to portray him quite negatively - a man wanging on ad nauseam about bad English cooking, writing nagging letters about his children's studies in a spectacularly dubious fashion, and who caused one woman in particular and arguably two, immense emotional pain.
Alexandrine, his legal wife, comes out of the book as a stoic and a heroine, as Rosen intends. The Vizetelly family shine too - Ernest, Zola's translator and friend, and his publisher father who went to prison for publishing Zola's work. Rosen's subject is not however a comparatively bad man, especially in the context of his time, his class and his milieu... and indeed the book makes for an interesting parallel with contemporary situations. You can imagine that deprived of the level of parenting which had previously been available to him and with time on his hands, Zola's love and concern for both his children was funnelled into a distorted obsession with their academic success, with him suggesting to Jeanne their mother that she should motivate them by telling them they will be loved less if they do not do well.
Zola's position in relation to his friends is an interesting one and Rosen shows him somewhat at the mercy of their counsel.
May 12, 2024
I came to this book after reading the magnificent historical novel "An Officer and a Spy" by Robert Harris which very accurately presents the story of "The Dreyfus Affair" an earth shattering political event that unfolded in Belle Epoque France (late 19th, early 20th century).
Emile Zola was one of a handful of people who played key roles in the resolution of the Affair by condemning unfairness and corruption in the army and the government of France. To do this he risked everything: his freedom, wealth, reputation, literary career, and even his earthly comforts. In order to defend Alfred Dreyfus from institutional anti-semitism, he took on the entire army and government of France by penning and publishing one of history's most famous letters: J'Accuse. Its publication landed him in a legal battle which he unfairly lost and was thus condemned to jail. To avoid jail time, he sought refuge in London. This book tells the story of his exile and the personal and family conflicts he was also enduring at the time. The book's weakness is precisely the superficial commentary on all of Zola's family issues and the nature of his relationships.
On the other hand its great value, in my view, is that it solidifies the notion that Zola was not just a literary colossus who innovated by delivering no-holds-barred fiction accurately depicting society's ills and undersides (Germinal, Nana, Therese Raquin etc). It also provides ample proof that Zola was a leading figure of his time, a visionary with uncanny abilities to lead the moral discourse not just of France but of the entire European continent. Zola was a loyal defender of and lived up to the egalitarian and fraternal principles of the French Revolution. He was also a believer in the Enlightenment principles which led to it. And the value of this book lies in telling the special story of how in 1897 Zola paid the price for "making a brave, unpopular, self-sacrificing decision to support a convicted man...drawing on his awareness of injustice and his sense of the need for truth in governing."
Emile Zola was one of a handful of people who played key roles in the resolution of the Affair by condemning unfairness and corruption in the army and the government of France. To do this he risked everything: his freedom, wealth, reputation, literary career, and even his earthly comforts. In order to defend Alfred Dreyfus from institutional anti-semitism, he took on the entire army and government of France by penning and publishing one of history's most famous letters: J'Accuse. Its publication landed him in a legal battle which he unfairly lost and was thus condemned to jail. To avoid jail time, he sought refuge in London. This book tells the story of his exile and the personal and family conflicts he was also enduring at the time. The book's weakness is precisely the superficial commentary on all of Zola's family issues and the nature of his relationships.
On the other hand its great value, in my view, is that it solidifies the notion that Zola was not just a literary colossus who innovated by delivering no-holds-barred fiction accurately depicting society's ills and undersides (Germinal, Nana, Therese Raquin etc). It also provides ample proof that Zola was a leading figure of his time, a visionary with uncanny abilities to lead the moral discourse not just of France but of the entire European continent. Zola was a loyal defender of and lived up to the egalitarian and fraternal principles of the French Revolution. He was also a believer in the Enlightenment principles which led to it. And the value of this book lies in telling the special story of how in 1897 Zola paid the price for "making a brave, unpopular, self-sacrificing decision to support a convicted man...drawing on his awareness of injustice and his sense of the need for truth in governing."
March 24, 2018
This is an odd little book and I was left wondering why Michael Rosen chose to write it. It tells the story of Zola's brief exile in England to avoid imprisonment for his part in the Dreyfus affair. It seems to be meticulously researched, based on Zola's prolific correspondence, but, while the characters surrounding him - his wife, his mistress and their children, and his loyal publisher - are depicted with some depth, I was left with very little sense of Zola himself.
The challenge of leaving one's home in haste for a destination where one does not speak the language and has to remain in hiding does not seem to impede Zola from continuing to write. His letters suggest petulance rather than any real sense of danger. But writing about a writer writing is not really very interesting. Much of his correspondence seems to relate to managing his relationships with his wife and mistress: his wife seems to have shown great forbearance in this and having been left in France to deal with all his business in his absence cannot fail to win the respect of the reader.
The contrast between Zola's earlier visit to England when he was lionised by the literary establishment and his less happy return was well portrayed, as was his claustrophobic existence in various South London hotels. But Rosen's fondness for exclamation marks became a bit irritating to this reader and some of his speculation about Zola's thoughts and emotions seemed a little wayward.
Although there is very little detail included about the Dreyfus affair, the inclusion of the translated text of "J'Accuse" as an appendix is useful and the reader could be prompted to read more about the background.
The challenge of leaving one's home in haste for a destination where one does not speak the language and has to remain in hiding does not seem to impede Zola from continuing to write. His letters suggest petulance rather than any real sense of danger. But writing about a writer writing is not really very interesting. Much of his correspondence seems to relate to managing his relationships with his wife and mistress: his wife seems to have shown great forbearance in this and having been left in France to deal with all his business in his absence cannot fail to win the respect of the reader.
The contrast between Zola's earlier visit to England when he was lionised by the literary establishment and his less happy return was well portrayed, as was his claustrophobic existence in various South London hotels. But Rosen's fondness for exclamation marks became a bit irritating to this reader and some of his speculation about Zola's thoughts and emotions seemed a little wayward.
Although there is very little detail included about the Dreyfus affair, the inclusion of the translated text of "J'Accuse" as an appendix is useful and the reader could be prompted to read more about the background.
November 21, 2017
This very engaging history sheds light on the last months of Zola’s life – his exile in Britain after he was found guilty of libel for publishing J’accuse, his accusations against the miscarriage of justice in the Dreyfus affair, alleging forged evidence and a conspiracy at the highest level of the army and the government by anti-Semitic and royalist forces.
Zola was at the height of his fame when he made this statement – a best-selling author, celebrated across Europe. It was an idealistic gesture which cost him and his family personally and financially, and may in fact have cost him his life, if the confession of an anti-Dreyfusard who claimed to have blocked the Zola chimney to suffocate him is true.
He was a larger than life character in many ways – the state of friendly détente between his two families, mistress Jeanne and their two children and his childless wife Alexandrine being one. He was loved and hated as an author – his unsparing and graphic descriptions of physical reality causing him grief from the Purity Police at home and abroad. He was a doting if demanding father, and attentive to both his spouses, wretched in exile, writing of how he hated the weather and the food and how he missed his family and friends.
It is a wonderfully human portrait of a man who made a singular and brave contribution to the cause of equality and social justice.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Zola was at the height of his fame when he made this statement – a best-selling author, celebrated across Europe. It was an idealistic gesture which cost him and his family personally and financially, and may in fact have cost him his life, if the confession of an anti-Dreyfusard who claimed to have blocked the Zola chimney to suffocate him is true.
He was a larger than life character in many ways – the state of friendly détente between his two families, mistress Jeanne and their two children and his childless wife Alexandrine being one. He was loved and hated as an author – his unsparing and graphic descriptions of physical reality causing him grief from the Purity Police at home and abroad. He was a doting if demanding father, and attentive to both his spouses, wretched in exile, writing of how he hated the weather and the food and how he missed his family and friends.
It is a wonderfully human portrait of a man who made a singular and brave contribution to the cause of equality and social justice.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
April 16, 2022
I think if this had more explicitly gone into the Dreyfus Affair I would have given it 4*, but the cover is a little misleading as it only skims that.
This book is an interesting exploration of Zola's time in London during his exile in the late 1890 and while I'm not particularly a Zola fan (I more bought this book because I thought it might bring a new perspective on the Dreyfus Affair), it was still a good read and Rosen brings the man to life well I feel. I think perhaps it errs on the side of trying to do too much and not getting as deeply into any one thing as I'd have liked, but at the same time, this approach does provide a broad snapshot rich in information.
This book is an interesting exploration of Zola's time in London during his exile in the late 1890 and while I'm not particularly a Zola fan (I more bought this book because I thought it might bring a new perspective on the Dreyfus Affair), it was still a good read and Rosen brings the man to life well I feel. I think perhaps it errs on the side of trying to do too much and not getting as deeply into any one thing as I'd have liked, but at the same time, this approach does provide a broad snapshot rich in information.
May 23, 2020
Very interesting insights into Zola's life and ideals and of course the rampant anti-semitism which allowed the Dreyfus affair and its ongoing cover-up. Zola's wife Alexandrine emerges as a heroine with her generosity and kindness to Zola's mistress and children. So tough to know that all this preceded fascism and WWII - no lessons learnt and the events resonate today with the rise in populism and fascism again
February 15, 2022
First of all, it's not a political thriller. The first part is a [rather repetitive] review of letters between Zola and, primarily, his two loves. The second half gets more into the nitty gritty of Zola's social attitudes stances and his engagement with various movements.
June 8, 2018
Highly informative, but not highly entertaining.
October 4, 2018
Easy to read and easy to understand. I couldn't put it down once picked up. As it is an interesting bit of history and all.
April 25, 2019
Interesting but perhaps not enough depth on the incongruity of Zola in suburbia, family arrangements or the political significance. It is there so better as an introduction.
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