The immediate success which Thérèse Raquin enjoyed on publication in 1868 was partly due to scandal, following the accusation of pornography; in reply Zola (1840-1902) defined the new creed of Naturalism in the famous preface which is printed in this volume. The novel is a grim tale of adultery, murder and revenge in a nightmarish setting. A thriller and, as Leonard Tancock says in his introduction, a cautionary tale on the sixth and seventh commandments, this early work of Zola's is full of black macabre poetry which has kept its tragic power for over a century.