Few literary figures match Zola in strength of conviction, and this fictional rendering of his life provides a rewarding insight into the motivations of the French novelist/activist. Scotsman McLeave, the author of two dozen books of fiction and nonfiction, skillfully traces Zola's life through his early friendship with painter Paul Cézanne, his marriage to Cézanne's former lover, and his prolific literary achievements. Zola yearned to write poetry from an early age, but Paris publisher Louis Hachette urged him to write fiction, thus irrevocably changing the face of the 19-th-century French novel. McLeave recounts Zola's school failures and years of despair and traces the evolution of his approach to literature and creativity. Along the way readers encounter Cézanne, Flaubert, Monet, and a score of France's great literary, social, and political figures. Historically accurate, entertaining, and easy to read and navigate, this e-book original is highly recommended.—Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL