Folio (Gallimard): Au Bonheur Des Dames (Paperback)

from oataker

Denise, a 20 year old from the sticks come penniless to Paris with her two younger brothers hoping to live with her Uncle Baudu. But he cannot help her as he is being ruined by the Ladies Paradise department store opened up by Mouret. Lots of stuff about Woman being seduced by the riches on displ...

from burritapal

The birth of the department store: A huge store opens in Paris, putting small tradespeople out of business, employing thousands and giving women a place to congregate in public without being escorted by a man. I loved the protagonist of the book, Denise. When the owner of the store falls in love...

from nessreader

A brilliant book about the retail industry. It's about daring schemes to cut prices to the bone, and how that means pressure to increase turnover so that a smaller percentage of profit on many sales outweighs a larger profit on few. And it's about how it feels to work in retail, the necessary sma...

from Cecrow

The Ladies' Paradise of the title is one of the world's earliest department stores, gathering a multitude of goods and services under one roof in the heart of Paris. Its size and cash flow exceeds all known bounds, beggaring the surrounding drab mom-and-pop establishments with its enormous, glitt...

from aine.fin

I actually enjoyed this but its length and pages and pages of descriptive language could easily turn people off - it nearly did for me but something drew me through it. I had never read Zola before and thought this would be a good way to do so. Follows country girl Denise as she comes to Paris to...