L'Argent

by Émile Zola

"L'Argent" by Émile Zola is a novel published in 1891. Set during the Second French Empire, it follows Aristide Saccard, a bankrupt financier who seizes upon his neighbor's ambitious plans for Middle Eastern development to establish a bank. Driven by greed, rivalry with his powerful brother, and antisemitism, Saccard builds his Banque Universelle through stock manipulation and deception. As shares soar and speculation grips all levels of society, the precarious enterprise hurtles toward inevitable collapse, threatening to devastate everyone caught in its wake.