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{{Short description|1883 novel by Émile Zola}}
{{For|the French band|Au Bonheur des Dames (band)}}
{{infobox book|
| name              = The ladies' paradise
| title_orig        = 
| translator        = 
| image             = <!--prefer 1st edition--> Au Bonheur des Dames manuscript.jpg
| caption           = {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}} manuscript
| author            = [[Émile Zola]]
| illustrator       = 
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = France
| language          = French
| series            = {{Lang|fr|[[Les Rougon-Macquart]]}}
| genre             = [[Novel]]
| publisher         = Charpentier (book form)
| release_date      = 1882–1883 (serial); 1883 (book)
| english_release_date = 
| media_type        = Print ([[Serial (literature)|serial]], [[Hardcover|hardback]], and [[paperback]])
| pages             = 480 (paperback)
| isbn              = 
| preceded_by       = [[Pot-Bouille|Pot Luck]]
| followed_by       = [[La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret|The Sin of Father Mouret]]
}}

'''{{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}''' ({{IPA|fr|obɔnœʁ deˈdam}}; ''The Ladies' Delight'' or ''The Ladies' Paradise'') is the eleventh novel in the ''[[Les Rougon-Macquart|Rougon-Macquart]]'' series by [[Émile Zola]]. It was first serialized in the periodical ''[[Gil Blas (periodical)|Gil Blas]]'' from December 17, 1882 to March 1, 1883; and published in novel form by Charpentier in 1883.

The novel is set in the world of the [[department store]], an innovative development in mid-nineteenth century retail sales. Zola models his store after [[Le Bon Marché]], which consolidated under one roof many of the goods hitherto sold in separate shops. The narrative details many of Le Bon Marché's innovations, including its mail-order business, its system of commissions, its in-house staff [[Commissary (store)|commissary]], and its methods of receiving and retailing goods.

{{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}} is a sequel to ''[[Pot-Bouille]]''. Like its predecessor, {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}} focuses on Octave Mouret, who at the end of the previous novel married Caroline Hédouin, the owner of a small silk shop. Now a widower, Octave has expanded the business into an international retail powerhouse occupying, at the beginning of the book, the greater part of an entire city block.

==Plot summary==
The events of {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}} cover approximately 1864-1869.

The novel tells the story of Denise Baudu, a 20-year-old woman from [[Valognes]] who comes to [[Paris]] with her younger brothers and begins working as a saleswoman at the department store "Au Bonheur des Dames". Zola describes the inner workings of the store from the employees' perspective, including the 13-hour workdays, the substandard food and the bare lodgings for the female staff. Many of the conflicts in the novel spring from each employee's struggle for advancement and the malicious infighting and gossip among the staff.

Denise's story is played against the career of Octave Mouret, the owner of Au Bonheur des Dames, whose retail innovations and store expansions threaten the existence of all the neighborhood shops. Under one roof, Octave has gathered [[textile]]s ([[silk]]s, [[woolen]]s) as well as all manner of ready-made garments ([[dress]]es, [[coat (clothing)|coats]], [[lingerie]], [[glove]]s), accessories necessary for making clothes, and ancillary items like [[carpet]]ing and [[furniture]]. His aim is to overwhelm the senses of his female customers, forcing them to spend by bombarding them with an array of buying choices and by juxtaposing goods in enticing and intoxicating ways. Massive advertising, huge sales, home delivery, and a system of refunds and novelties such as a reading room and a snack bar further induce his female clientele to patronize his store in growing numbers. In the process, he drives the traditional retailers who operate smaller speciality shops out of business.

In ''Pot-Bouille'', an earlier novel, Octave is depicted as a ladies' man, sometimes inept, who seduces or attempts to seduce women who can give him some social or financial advantage. In {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}, he uses a young widow to influence a political figure–modeled after [[Baron Haussmann]]–in order to gain frontage access to a huge thoroughfare, the present day rue de [[Quatre-Septembre (Paris Métro)|Quatre-Septembre]], for the store.

Despite his contempt for women, Octave finds himself slowly falling in love with Denise, whose refusal to be seduced by his charms further inflames him. The book ends with Denise admitting her love for Octave and agreeing to marry him. 

The depiction of women is modern. The department store is described as a place where female customers can live out their fantasies and impulses; for the female employees, it offers the possibility of financial independence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lubrich|first=Naomi|title="Der Vampir im Warenhaus. Eine Metapher wird lebendig in Émile Zolas Au Bonheur des Dames" in: Orbis Litterarum: International Review of Literary Studies. 70:6|year=2015|pages=474–502|language=German}}</ref>

==Relationship to the other ''Rougon-Macquart'' novels==
Zola designed the ''Rougon-Macquart'' novels to demonstrate how [[heredity]] and environment operate on the members of one family over the course of the [[Second French Empire]]. In this case, the environment is the department store.

Octave Mouret is introduced briefly in ''[[La Fortune des Rougon|La fortune des Rougon]]''. He plays a larger but background role in ''[[La Conquête de Plassans|La conquête de Plassans]]'', which focuses on his parents, the first cousins Marthe Rougon and François Mouret. As an innovator and risk-taker, Octave combines his mother's imagination with his father's business sense, making the department store the perfect milieu for his natural gifts.

Octave's brother is the priest Serge (''[[La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret|La faute de l'Abbé Mouret]]''), who served as a guardian to their mentally challenged sister Desirée.

In ''[[Le Docteur Pascal|Le docteur Pascal]]'', the final novel in the series set in 1872-1873, Octave and Denise are married and have three children. Octave also appears briefly or is mentioned in ''[[La Joie de vivre|La joie de vivre]]'' and ''[[L'Œuvre|L'œuvre]]''.

==Adaptations==
The novel has been adapted for film several times. 
*''[[To the Ladies' Paradise|Zum Paradies der Damen]]'' (1922) directed by [[Lupu Pick]] 
*{{Lang|fr|Au bonheur des dames}} (1930) directed by [[Julien Duvivier]] starring [[Dita Parlo]]
*{{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}} (English: ''[[Shop Girls of Paris]]'') (1943) directed by [[André Cayatte]] starring [[Blanchette Brunoy]]

The [[BBC]] used the novel as the basis for a 2012 eight-part [[television series]] set in northern England titled ''[[The Paradise (TV series)|The Paradise]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Walker |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9544220/The-Paradise-star-says-BBC-show-brought-forward-to-prevent-new-ratings-battle-with-ITV.html |title='The Paradise' star says BBC show 'brought forward' to prevent new ratings battle with ITV |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=September 15, 2012 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |quote=''The Paradise'', which stars [[Joanna Vanderham]] is an adaptation of ''The Ladies' Paradise'', the classic novel by Émile Zola, with the action relocated from France to northern England, where the country's first department store is opened in 1875.}}</ref> It starred [[Joanna Vanderham]]  and [[Emun Elliott]]. The BBC launched a second series in October 2013.

The novel was also adapted as an Italian language television series in 2015, ''[[Il Paradiso delle Signore]]'', which has run for several seasons and stars [[Giuseppe Zeno]] and Giusy Buscemi.

The novel was adapted for the stage, with the title ''The Department Store'', by [[Justin Fleming (author)|Justin Fleming]], and was premiered at [[The Old Fitzroy Theatre]] Sydney in 2005, directed by Christopher Hurrell.

The novel was adapted into a play for [[BBC Radio 4]] that premiered in September 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tw3b4 |title=Classic Serial - Emile Zola - The Ladies' Delight |publisher=[[bbc.co.uk]] }}</ref>

==English Translations==
===Expurgated===
# ''Shop Girls of Paris'' (1883, tr. Mary Neal Sherwood, T.B. Peterson & Bros.)
# ''The Ladies' Paradise'' (1883, tr. Frank Belmont, Tinsley Bros.)
# ''The Ladies' Paradise'' (1886, tr. Frank Belmont, edited for [[Henry Vizetelly|H. Vizetelly]], Vizetelly & Co.)
# ''The Ladies' Paradise'' (1895, tr. Frank Belmont, edited by [[Ernest Alfred Vizetelly]], Hutchinson & Co.)

===Unexpurgated===
# ''Ladies' Delight'' (1957, tr. April Fitzlyon, John Calder)
# ''The Ladies Paradise'' (1995, tr. [[Brian Nelson (critic)|Brian Nelson]], [[Oxford University Press]])<ref>''The Ladies Paradise'' ({{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}); first trans. by Brian Nelson in 1995. Oxford World's Classics. {{ISBN|978-0-19-953690-0}} (re-issued 2008)</ref> 
# ''Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies' Delight)'' (2001, tr. Robin Buss, Penguin Books)<ref>{{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}; first trans. by Robin Buss in 2001. [[Penguin Classics]]. {{ISBN|978-0-14-044783-5}} (re-issued 2004)</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
*[[Aristide Boucicaut]]
*[[Grands Magasins du Louvre]]
*[[Kleptomania]]
*[[La Samaritaine]]
*[[Ready-to-wear]]
*[[Retailing]]
*[[Shopping]]
*[[The Vanishing Lady (illusion)]]

==Sources==
*Brown, F. (1995). ''Zola: A life''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
*Zola, E. {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}, translated as ''The Ladies' Paradise'' by Brian Nelson (1995).
*Zola, E. {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}, translated as ''The Ladies' Delight'' by Robin Buss (2002).
*Zola, E. ''Le doctor Pascal'', translated as ''Doctor Pascal'' by [[E. A. Vizetelly]] (1893).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Gutenberg|no=16852|name=Au Bonheur des Dames}} (French)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q2870245|title=Au bonheur des dames}} (1943) (French)
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q2870239|title=Au bonheur des dames}} (1930) (French) directed by [[Julien Duvivier]]
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q60738412|title=Zum Paradies der Damen}} (German) (1922)
* {{librivox book | title=The Ladies' Paradise | author=Émile Zola}} 
*{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livre-audio-gratuit-mp3/zola-emile-au-bonheur-des-dames.html/ {{Lang|fr|Au Bonheur des Dames}}, audio version] [[Image:Speaker Icon.svg|20px]]

{{Emile Zola}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1883 French novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Émile Zola]]
[[Category:Books of Les Rougon-Macquart]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Gil Blas (periodical)]]
[[Category:Novels about marketing]]
[[Category:Fiction set in the 1860s]]
[[Category:Novels set in Paris]]
[[Category:French novels adapted into films]]