Aristide Saccard grows rich by speculating on the demolitions of Haussmann’s Paris, buying land he knows the city will need. His young second wife Renée, bored amid the luxury of their mansion by the Parc Monceau, drifts into an affair with his son Maxime, while Saccard’s schemes swallow everything, including her fortune.
The second Rougon-Macquart novel, Zola’s dazzling portrait of greed under Napoleon III, with a preface by George Moore. Download the free EPUB.