Faute de l'abbé Mouret, La. Novel by Zola, fifth in the Rougon-Macquart series, published 1875. It takes the form of a religious allegory or philosophical tale, depicting the struggle between the Church and Nature for the ‘soul’ of Serge Mouret, the son of François Mouret and Marthe Rougon. Serge, the parish priest in a small Provençal hamlet, is intensely devoted to the cult of the Virgin Mary and falls ill as a result of his excessive devotions, losing his memory. His uncle, the hero of the later novel Le Docteur Pascal, takes him to the wild garden, le Paradou, where, in a patent transposition of the myth of Adam and Eve, a young girl, Albine, tempts him back to new life, with the active complicity of surrounding nature. The formidable frère Archangias, however, invades the Paradou to reclaim Serge for the Church. The young priest, repentant, denies the call of nature and the pregnant Albine, who dies as a result of his rejection. The novel is in the form of a triptych and has been admired for its lyrical qualities, its lush descriptions, and its representation of peasant life before La Terre.
[David Baguley]
