pstrongEmile Zola was an elegant writer -- more elegant than his reputation as a political firebrand might suggest.strong Zola's most famous work was a newspaper article his impassioned defense of imprisoned Captain Alfred Dreyfus, emJ'accuse.em emRomeem is the second volume of emThe Three Cities Les Trois Villes, em first published in 1896. The first volume tells of the troubled priest Pierre Froment's journey to emLourdes, em hoping to find a cure for his spiritual doubts. In emRome, em Pierre travels to the Holy City, hoping to persuade the Pope to approve of his Christian, socialist theories. The final book of the trilogy, emParis, em tells of Pierre's return to the City of Light, watching the fall of Catholicism, and the rise of Pierre's new faith of scientific rationalism.p