Le Rêve

Emile Zola

The Dream is the sixteenth volume in Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart cycle. In the fictional Picardy town of Beaumont, the Hubert couple, who work in embroidery, take in a foundling named Angélique. Between the cathedral, the craft of embroidery, and saints’ legends, her dreams grow. Zola gives her encounter with Félicien an almost fairy-tale atmosphere, where aspirations meet family and social ties.