La Curée

by Émile Zola

"La Curée" by Émile Zola is a novel serialized from 1871 to 1872 and published in 1872. The second installment in Zola's twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart series, it plunges into the ruthless world of property speculation during Baron Haussmann's transformation of Paris. Aristide Saccard, a cunning social climber, exploits insider information to amass a fortune. His young wife Renée and his son Maxime become entangled in a scandalous affair, while Saccard manipulates them both for financial gain. A scathing portrait of Second Empire excess and moral decay unfolds.