The Beast Within by Emile Zola

The Beast Within 

By Emile Zola 

Rating 5/5 😄😃😃😃

Genres : psychological fiction, fiction, violence, murder, suspense 

Its a solid, hard core 5 point from me. Emile Zola is a treasure and a brilliant writer that I haven't stumbled upon till now. I vaguely remember reading bits and pieces of Nana by him but not fully. This book has him embodying every single character and writing it from their perspective of how they feel and why they make a certain choice of action. He is one time in the head of a murderer, another time  in that of his victim. He is one time  in the head of a woman vulnerable and weak, another time in that of a ruthless,unflinching  amazon. It is hard to not read on as the story is unraveling in such a mysterious way..there is no knowing who is going to get killed next..who is going to murder whom, for what motive and how?! Its full of suspense and mystery but it also has many scenes of graphical violence which sensitive readers must be warned about to stay away from..

Severine is an attractive woman who is married to a passionate man much older than herself. He is a jealous and possessive lover. Once he comes to know that she has been sexually abused by her adopted father as a child and brimming with insatiable rage - his inner beast coming out  - murders the man with her help on a train journey. The authorities get to know who the killers are but they hush up as a favor to Severine and the murdered man so his murky past doesn't come out. Having escaped with barely a scratch, the couple start drifting apart. The husband Roubard takes to gambling and Severine gets herself a lover Jaques. Jaques is someone who is constantly on the run from getting into intimate relations with women because he is afraid of an inner beast within himself..that which wants to smother/strangle/murder them as a form of some unknown revenge. They feel a deeply magnetic and liberating pull towards each other..he who can now commit to a woman without wanting to kill her and she finding someone whom she could love and be totally honest with. It goes on in secret for sometime and then everyone gets to know about it..even the husband but no one does anything to stop them. Except that Jaques starts pulling away from her after she makes the confession of her secret because he no longer could fully entangle with her and his inner violence is rearing back its head. Severine meanwhile hatches a plan that they both kill her husband and make an escape with his/their money to America and start a new life. They make a perfect plan luring the husband to meet his death..but in a shocking and horrific twist of fate, Severine gets murdered. The end will also be a surprise..I definitely didn't see it coming..there is not one of them who really mattered to the story that remained alive! Is this called fate or karma? 

I thought that deep down all the characters in the story had a dark/negative side to them which attracted them into each other's lives. There is really no one who could be called an innocent. Not one single character. My heart was palpitating through out with anticipation of what is to come next and I find this one an absolute good read!! I am going to dig more into Emile Zola books!!