Published in 1907, Friday, the Thirteenth is a novel by Thomas William Lawson, a Boston stockbroker who became notorious for his muckraking exposé of the American financial system, Frenzied Finance. This fictional companion piece uses a Wall Street setting and superstition about the titular date to explore market manipulation, greed, and the moral cost of financial speculation.
A product of the Progressive Era’s intense scrutiny of American capitalism, the novel offers a vivid window into the world of early twentieth-century high finance. Download the free public-domain EPUB at Better Gutenberg.