''Everything revolved around their love. They were constantly bathed in a passion that they carried with them, around them, as though it were the only air they could breathe.''H-ne Grandjean, an attractive young widow, lives a secluded life in Paris with her only child, Jeanne. Jeanne is a delicate and nervous girl who jealously guards her mother''s affections. When Jeanne falls ill, she is attended by Dr Deberle, whose growing admiration for H-ne gradually turns into mutual passion. Deberle''s wife Juliette, meanwhile, flirts with a shallow admirer, and H-ne, intent on preventing her adultery, precipitates a crisis whoseconsequences are far-reaching. Jeanne realizes she has a rival for H-ne''s devotion in the doctor, and begins to exercise a tyrannous hold over her mother.The eighth novel in Zola''s celebrated Rougon-Macquart series, A Love Story is an intense psychological and nuanced portrayal of love''s different guises. Zola''s study extends most notably to the city of Paris itsel
