Perhaps lovers of Zola’s writings would enjoy this book.

Unbroken

Too verbose and slow for my liking.

With Kate Winslet reading it, I'm sure that it is! I have not read the print version.

The originality of Emile Zolde's take on the world's oldest tale of passion and obsession gone bad. You feel yourself going mad with the characters...(or was that Kate Winslet's doing?)

I had three....the opening stage of Mother/Aunt and cousins and her determination to stay

The interplay between characters. The psychological build up between the 3 main characters

It was an unusual dramatic story.

Therese

The murder scene and the moment when the mother hears what Therese and her lover did to her son.

I would never have listened to this book had I not heard the sample of Kate Winslet's reading. Just those few minutes gave a sense of the depth of her talents and so I decided to take a chance. I had feared that I would be hearing Madame Bovary all over again, a book that I appreciated but did not actually enjoy when I read it. This was far from that. Yes the details Zola uses to describe his characters and their world brought them to life in my mind, and Winslet's reading make such pleasure of it all. Still, it would have been merely a delightful read had not the story taken such a wildly perverse turn.

The consequences of bad choices made out of love are taken to depths that caught me by surprise. I thought I was reading a tragic romance at first and only gradually realized I was caught up in a nightmare, and a fantastic one at that. The characters by the end of the story bear no resemblance whatsoever to those at the beginning and little in common with any decent human being, but the transition played out so smoothly for me that I marveled at it. I became both utterly repulsed by them as I was simultaneously drawn more into the story. To enjoy this story I think it takes sheer interest in literature of this period, in stories of love gone wrong, or just fascination with the twisted lengths to which the human condition can be pushed. The first two maybe still require the later. I can only say this story deeply appealed to my darker side.

I picked the book because of Kate Winslet but was also interested in Zola. An oddly contemporary feel because of the isolation of the characters. Kate rocked it.

yes....performance was excellent, a classic

body heat

her expression, ability to change characters

no...never have time for that

Kate winslet has a great voice and a brilliant performance

therese

Laurant

Madame Raquin, paralyzed who has to listen to the murderer's confessions without being able to speak a world, nor to cry, or make a move.

I love Kate Winslet, but what a horrible story. I had no sympathy for anyone and the awfulness was just piled on top of awfulness. Waste of my time.

Even the great narration of Kate Winslet cannot make up for this long, overly detailed, depressing story. I never was able to gain much sympathy for the characters and felt like an observer of people I'd never met. I hope Kate will narrate another book as I truly enjoyed listening to her read.