A review by retrophrenologist
Lourdes by Émile Zola

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

I loved most of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart cycle, but there were a few entries that became overly repetitive and - frankly - dull. This book echoes the worst of that series.

The thin plot is stretched to breaking point, themes are hammered home with infuriating redundancy, and there is little reason to care about any of the characters.