Germinal

With flawless construction and impeccable detail, Germinal chronicles the conflicts, lusts, and deprivation of life in the coal fields of nineteenth-century France. A father and three of seven children work brutal hours, facing such hazards as landslides, fire, and poisoned air, to scrape together enough money for food. When their lodger, Atienne, shares ideas of a workers' revolt, the family gradually embraces his plans. Soon the settlement is aflame with resolve to strike for better wages and working conditions. Savage and horrifying events ensue, as miners clash with management and with each other. Published in 1885, Germinal helped establish Émile Zola as the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. Andre Gide chose this masterpiece as one of the ten best novels in the French language . "Few readers of audiobooks can match Frederick Davidson's remarkable skill....He's equal to the task [of] rendering this complex, yet worthwhile, novel accessible to all listeners." Emile Zola was born in Paris in 1840 and raised in a poor family at Aix-en-Provence. He published many works, but is perhaps most famous for his incredible series of novels, Les Rougon-Macquart, one of the chief monuments of the French Naturalist Movement, which sets out to reveal scientifically the effects of heredity and environment on one family. Frederick Davidson (1932-2005) was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He performed in BBC radio plays before coming to America in 1976. He went on to record more than eight hundred audiobooks, garnering AudioFile's Golden Voice Award, numerous Earphones Awards, and a Grammy nomination for his readings.