Nana - courtesan and monster, woman and goddess, reality and myth.
Nana is both a compelling portrayal of a Parisian prostitute and a brilliant evocation of the glittering, corrupt world of the Second French Empire.
Beautiful, capricious, good-natured yet ultimately destructive, Nana "the golden fly" rises from the underworld of Paris to take a triumphant and savage revenge upon the rich and powerful. Her life mirrors that of the Empire and they reflect each others disintegration in the débácle of 1870.
Zola's rich use of words and the sensual atmosphere that he creates combine to make this powerful erotic novel a "poem of male desires."