Emile Zola

The Flood Emile Zola

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On a beautiful May day, in the French village of Saint-Jory, several miles up the Garonne from Toulouse, the Garonne floods, washing away all the bridges; ruining nearly two thousand houses; drowning hundreds; and leaving twenty thousand starving to death...



This tragic fate of a well-to-do farming family is an accurate description of the immediate impact this flood has on one household.