The Ladies' Delight

<p><I>The Ladies' Delight</I> (1883) is a novel by French author ��mile Zola. The eleventh of twenty volumes of Zola's monumental <I>Les Rougon-Macquart</I> series is an epic story of family politics class and history that traces the disparate paths of several French citizens raised by the same mother. Spanning the entirety of the French Second Empire Zola provides a sweeping portrait of change that refuses to shy away from controversy and truth as it gets to the heart of heredity and human nature. At the age of twenty Denise Baudu moves to Paris with her brothers and finds work at Au Bonheur des Dames a new department store owned by eccentric entrepreneur Octave Mouret. There she grows accustomed to 13-hour days inferior food and housing and the constant grind of thankless labor. Despite her circumstances she soon finds herself attracted to Mouret a notorious womanizer whose exploitative business practices have alienated him from employees and local businesspeople. Mouret's ambition and innovation have led him to corner the market on textiles womenswear furniture and household goods infuriating his competitors and driving smaller shops into bankruptcy. Until Denise he has avoided tying himself down to another intent on building a fortune for himself without the interference of family. Innocent at first she soon learns how to manipulate Octave to do her bidding. <I>The Ladies' Delight</I> is a story of family and fate a thrilling and detailed novel that continues a series rich enough for its author to explore in twenty total volumes. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript this edition of ��mile Zola's <I>The Ladies' Delight</I> is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.</p>