Which novel begins the Rougon-Macquart series?

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Black and white portrait of French novelist Emile Zola with glasses, a full beard, and mustache, wearing a suit and looking to the side. — Émile Zola French novelist Émile Zola.

The Rougon-Macquart cycle, a series of 20 novels by Émile Zola, begins with the novel La Fortune des Rougon (1871), also known as The Rougon Family or The Fortune of the Rougons.1

This opening work introduces the two branches of the family: the legitimate Rougons and the illegitimate, lower-class Macquarts, setting the stage for Zola's exploration of heredity and environment throughout the series.1