Nana by Emile Zola (Penguin Classics)

The novel was an immediate success. "Le Voltaire", the French newspaper that was planning to publish it in installments launched a advertising campaign, raising the curiosity of the reading public to a fever pitch. When Charpentier finally published Nana in book form in February 1880, the first edition of 55,000 copies was sold out in one day. Flaubert and Edmond de Goncourt were full of praise for Nana. Flaubert wrote Zola an effusive letter praising the novel in detail. 

On the other hand, a part of the public and some critics reacted to the book with outrage, which may have contributed to its popularity.