Rush for the Spoil, Book Two of Rougon-Macquart Cycle
Book Two of Zola's 20-volume Rougon-Macquart Cycle. "The Rush for the Spoil" ("La Curee") concerns Aristide Siccard (once Aristide Rougon) and his family, who come to Paris during the Second Empire, and "make a killing", as they say, in land speculation. - Summary by Mark Leder