Nana (Oxford World’s Classics)

Nana opens in 1867, the year of the World Fair, when Paris, thronged by a cosmopolitan élite, was la Ville Lumière, a perfect victim for Zola's scathing denunciation of hypocrisy and fin-de-siècle moral corruption. The introduction highlights the modernity of the themes of the novel -the disparity between classes, the power struggle between the sexes, the treatment of women. Excellent new translation by Helen Constantine, well known for her editions of Paris Tales (OUP, 2004) and French Tales (OUP, 2008) and translator and editor of several Zola novels, Gautier, and Balzac for Penguin and Oxford World's ClassicsIntroduction and notes by Brian Nelson, the formidable translator of many Zola editions for Oxford World's Classics including The Fortune of the Rougons, The Ladies' Paradise, His Excellency Eugène Rougon, The Belly of Paris, and The Kill. Includes an up-to-date bibliography, chronology of the author, and helpful explanatory notes.