Germinie Lacerteux
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
Published: 2022
Language: eng
Subjects: Working class women -- France -- Fiction; Women -- France -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction; Fiction
Description: <p>Germinie Lacerteux had a rough childhood in the French countryside, but when she finds employment as a maidservant in Paris her life seems to be taking a turn for the better. Her mistress Mademoiselle de Varandeuil treats her fairly, and in Jupillon, son of a local dairy-shop owner, she finds a secret lover. But her generous nature and self-sacrificial spirit make her vulnerable to his abuse and depravity. Her boundless love and loyalty will ultimately plunge her into debt, alcoholism, nymphomania, and depression—and a never-ending struggle to hide the dark side of her life from her mistress.</p> <p>In this, their fourth novel, the brothers <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edmond-de-goncourt">Edmond</a> and <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jules-de-goncourt">Jules de Goncourt</a>, took inspiration from events close to home: the passing of their maidservant Rose revealed her sordid hidden life, much like Germinie’s. They called the novel that arose from their shock and surprise at Rose’s secrets their <em>clinic of love</em>—and it was met with high praise and utter disgust alike. A young <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/emile-zola">Émile Zola</a> adored the novel, and Vincent van Gogh called it “life as it is,” making the book one of the subjects of a still life. Other contemporary writers were less enthusiastic, calling it “putrid” and “chiseled mire.” This could hardly have been a surprise to the Goncourt brothers, for they already warned in the preface: “this book furnishes entertainment of a melancholy, violent sort calculated to disarrange the habits and injure the health of the public.”</p>