La Joie de vivre
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La Joie de vivre ("The Joy of Living") is a novel by Emile Zola published in 1884. It is the 12th volume of the Rougon-Macquart series. The action takes place in Normandy, in a small port village called Bonneville. The main character is Pauline Quenu, daughter of Lisa Macquart and the butcher Quenu (see Le Ventre de Paris), orphaned at the age of 10 and sent to live with the Chanteaus, cousins of the Macquart family. Inheritant of a considerable fortune, Pauline allows Madame Chanteau and her son Lazare to slowly take away all her money, without losing her love for them and keeping until the end "The Joy of Living" from which the book takes its title.
