Émile Zola: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

BBC radio adaptations of novels and short stories by Émile Zola, plus a fascinating short documentary and an original dramaNovelist, journalist and literature’s greatest whistleblower, Émile Zola was one of the 19th century’s pre-eminent authors. He is renowned for his philosophy of naturalism, which informed his 20-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle, an epic family saga set during France’s Second Empire, and for his controversial intervention in the Dreyfus affair through his infamous protest letter, J’Accuse.Here are some of his superlative works, adapted for radio with stellar casts and beginning with his breakthrough novel, Thérèse Raquin. A cautionary tale of lust, murder and madness, it stars Charlotte Riley, Andrew Buchan and Toby Hadoke. It is followed by five of the most famous novels in the Rougon-Macquart series – L’Assommoir, The Ladies’ Delight, Germinal, His Masterpiece and La Bête Humaine. With settings ranging from Paris to the far north of France, they portray 1860s French s