The Conquest of Plassans, Book Four of Rougon-Macquart Cycle by Emile Zola audiobook. Genre: drama In The Conquest of Plassans, Émile Zola turns his unflinching gaze on a provincial town and the private collapse that mirrors a public takeover: when a determined cleric and his political allies insinuate themselves into the lives of a respectable household, the soft rot of ambition, superstition and social maneuvering spreads until family bonds and reason begin to fray. Zola renders every whispered bargain, petty vendetta and ritual gesture with forensic clarity, building a slow-burning atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread as alliances shift and goodwill is turned into a weapon. Listeners will be drawn into a vivid panorama of 19th-century provincial life — its gossip, its churches, its salons — while witnessing the intimate tragedies that result when ideology and ambition conquer ordinary human tenderness. Part political drama, part psychological tragedy, this installment of the Rougon-Macquart cycle is both a gripping study of power’s quiet invasions and a masterclass in naturalist storytelling, ideal for anyone who loves novels that unsettle as they illuminate. Chapters (Approximate) (00:00:00) Chapter 00 (00:17:09) Chapter 01 (00:34:46) Chapter 02 (01:04:27) Chapter 03 (01:32:27) Chapter 04 (01:59:56) Chapter 05 (02:33:41) Chapter 06 (03:14:43) Chapter 07 (03:53:40) Chapter 08 (04:27:32) Chapter 09 (05:00:54) Chapter 10 (05:35:56) Chapter 11 (06:14:31) Chapter 12 (06:47:11) Chapter 13 (07:22:36) Chapter 14 (08:00:21) Chapter 15 (08:48:04) Chapter 16 (09:38:46) Chapter 17 (10:28:27) Chapter 18 (11:22:47) Chapter 19 (12:13:31) Chapter 20 (13:17:02) Chapter 21 (13:50:45) Chapter 22 (14:23:01) Chapter 23 (14:57:59) Chapter 24 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices