J. G. Patterson

(5 stars if I were the kind of person who gave 5 stars more regularly.)

Zola's Rougon-Macquart series has 20 novels, takes place over 25 years, and features at least 1,200 characters! This book from 1912 catalogues them all (including the occasional non-human) with brief biographies. A great supplement to the series - and available for free online these days, of course.

I assume it's accurate - although I note that the English translations available in 1912 were often censored and bowdlerised all over the place. So perhaps it's time for someone to update it. (I'm not offering. Well, maybe I am.)… (meer)