Madeleine Férat

Madeleine Férat is an 1868 novel by the French writer Émile Zola. It was Zola's fourth novel, written immediately after Thérèse Raquin, which had been Zola's first commercial and artistic success. It was published in 1868, first under the title La Honte (The Shame/Disgrace) in serial form (in L'Evénement Illustrée, from September 2 to October 20, 1868), then in volume under the title Madeleine Férat by Albert Lacroix, with a dedication to the painter Manet. It is the fictionalised version of a play which had not been accepted.

Madeleine Ferat deals with a beautiful woman in love with her husband William, but hopelessly attracted to her former lover, Jacques. This obsession leads to the destruction of her life, her marriage, and eventually drives her to suicide, while her husband, for his part, goes insane.