Unelma: Romaani

About this book

"Unelma: Romaani" by Émile Zola is a novel written in the late 19th century. The story likely explores themes of social injustice, personal struggle, and the quest for belonging, centered around the character Angélique, a young girl who faces immense hardships and yearns for warmth and acceptance in a cold world. The opening of "Unelma" introduces a bitterly cold winter in the town of Beaumont, where a nine-year-old girl named Angélique is found shivering under a church portico, desperately seeking shelter from the blizzard. She is portrayed as a fragile figure, dressed in rags and struggling with hunger and loneliness. We glean snippets of her past, revealing she is an orphan with unknown parents, a status affirmed by the discovery of a government-issued book outlining her identity as a foundling. The narrative hints at her fierce spirit beneath her vulnerable exterior, as she clings to her only possession, a small book, asserting her superiority over those who have wronged her. As she is taken in by a couple, Hubert and Hubertine, we see hints of her complicated emotions and resilience, setting the stage for her journey towards acceptance and self-discovery in a world that initially seems indifferent to her plight.