{"product_id":"2026200007263-secondhand-rome","title":"Rome","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Fair                          \u003cbr\u003eJacket: N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good                  \u003cbr\u003eMarkings: No markings\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe second installment in Émile Zola's Three Cities trilogy, Rome is a sweeping work of literary naturalism that chronicles the spiritual and political disillusionment of a French priest, Abbé Pierre Froment, as he journeys to the Eternal City hoping to gain Vatican approval for his reformist book on a compassionate, modern Catholicism. With unflinching realism, Zola presents the grandeur and decay of Rome side by side, using the city itself as a symbol of an institution clinging to ancient power while the modern world demands change. The novel uncovers the labyrinthine corruption, bureaucratic indifference, and political maneuvering at the heart of the Catholic Church, as Pierre's idealistic faith is systematically dismantled by the cold machinery of institutional religion. Zola's tone is both majestic and deeply critical, painting Rome with the eye of a journalist and the passion of a moralist, making the city a character as vivid and complex as any human figure in the narrative. A profound meditation on faith, power, and the collision between progress and tradition, it stands as one of Zola's most ambitious and intellectually charged works.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48887894671579,"sku":"2026200007263-SECONDHAND","price":30.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/4605c6bd-647b-4969-bd35-da28cbc1e518.png?v=1781748085","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200007263-secondhand-rome","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}