La curée #[nn]

Adapted from Émile Zola's razor-sharp novel of greed and ambition, this 2019 bande dessinée from Les Arènes brings the excesses of Second Empire Paris to vivid life. Éric Stalner's cover sets the tone perfectly: a wide-eyed, grinning man in a top hat and Victorian frock coat stretches his arms open, banknotes flying from his hands, while a partially demolished cityscape — complete with the silhouette of Notre-Dame — rises behind him, evoking Haussmann's sweeping and ruthless transformation of Paris. Written and illustrated entirely by Stalner alongside co-writer Cédric Simon, this is a richly crafted graphic adaptation of one of literature's most biting portraits of speculation and moral decay.