[2] The novel emphasizes the unjust social isolation of illegitimate children, exaggerating some of the details of Giardin's own experience as the bastard of the Count of Girardin.
[3] The titular character Émile is unable to find a place among the aristocracy or among the working class; after a series of rejections, he is placed in a mental hospital, and at his death is buried in a common grave.
[4][5] The novel was highly praised by Jules Janin in his newspaper Le Figaro,[6] and was described as receiving "a merited success" ("un succès mérité").
[7] The positive reception of the novel launched Girardin's social reputation, earning him entry to fashionable literary salons.
This article about a biographical or autobiographical book on a French politician is a stub.