En Route continues the story of Durtal, a modern anti-hero; solitary, agonised and alienated. Robbed of religion and plunged into decadence by the pressures of modern life, Durtal discovers a new road to Rome. Art, architecture and music light his way back to God. En Route forms part of a sequence of novels by Huysmans which are in fact barely veiled autobiography. First published in 1895, En Route earned the hostility of the Catholic Church and was condemned for obscenity.