A review by lucy_qhuay
The Dream by Émile Zola

3.0

'The Dream' is my first book by Émile Zola, but it won't be the last.

The writing style captivated me from the beginning. The passionate, lyrical prose, allied to the various references to dreams and the tales and legends of various saints and martyrs, led me to a state where I sometimes didn't know if what I was reading was reality or fantasy.

This only proves the author's talent, since, as the title plainly states, this book is mainly about a dream. Not the kind of dream you have while sleeping, but a waking dream.

Angélique, a little orphan girl wandering the streets, is adopted by Hubert and Hubertine, a childless couple of embroiderers, living in a modest house right next to the town's cathedral.

She grows up in beauty and talent, eventually becoming an embroideress herself, sheltered from society and the world in general, with only the stories of saints, holy virgins and martyrs to keep her company.

One night, seeing the image of a handsome, golden-haired young man, near the cathedral, she thinks she conjured the very presence of a saint and promptly falls desperately in love with him.

He is no saint, though. He is the wealthy son of the town's bishop, from an aristocratic family, and his father's refuse to let him marry Angélique is going to create a world of pain for this two starcrossed lovers.

Like I already said, this book tests the boundaries between reality and illusion and that is masterfully done, plus the characters are very interesting, which should have made this a 5 stars read.

However, I gave it only 3 stars for 2 reasons:

a) the book's length - I usually have a problem with novellas and short books, precisely because I tend to feel the story would have benefited if the work was a full-length novel.

b) the many overly melodramatic moments - I know these moments were supposed to be present here, but I just couldn't help rolling my eyes with the amount of drama the characters, especially Angélique, created. It was too over-the-top.

All in all, an interesting book for those who didn't read anything by this author and prefer to start with something lighter to read.