This is a new translation of the seventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, L'Assommoir (1877) - the story of a woman's struggle for happiness in working-class Paris. A contemporary bestseller, it outraged conservative critics and launched a passionate debate about the legitimate scope of modern literature.

Robert Lethbridge is Fellow and Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Margaret Mauldon lives in Amhurst, Massachusetts, and is working on other World's Classics translations.