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For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to tragedy. Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.

Regarded by Charles Dickens as his best novel upon publication, "Martin Chuzzlewit" relates a tale of familial selfishness and eventual moral redemption. First published serially from 1842 to 1844, it is the story of young Martin Chuzzlewit, who has been raised by his grandfather. He has fallen in love with his grandfather's ward and caretaker, the young orphan Mary Graham. Martin's grandfather does not approve and young Martin alienates himself from...

Seventh-grader Arthur Penhaligon returns to the parallel universe known as the House to fight his latest enemy, Grim Tuesday, whose greed threatens to destroy both the House and the Earth.

Retiring in Barbados, widower Peter Ducksworth concludes he must divide his land between his three daughters. Feeling snubbed by his youngest daughter, he declares that she receive hers only after his death and so sets in motion a discord in the family.

"From the bestselling and award-winning author comes a wickedly clever and fast-paced novel of greed, revenge, obsession--and quite possibly the perfect murder"-- Simon and Vicky couldn't seem more normal: a wealthy Chicago couple, he a respected law professor, she an advocate for domestic violence victims. A stable, if unexciting marriage. But one thing's for sure ... absolutely nothing is what it seems. The pair are far from normal, and one of...

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Martin Chuzzlewit) was serialized between 1843 and 1844, and is considered to be one of Charles Dickens's last picaresque novels. Raised by his grandfather and namesake, Martin Chuzzlewit is disinherited after revealing his love for his nursemaid, Mary. With no fortune, Martin apprentices himself to the greedy architect Seth Pecksniff and befriends Tom Pinch. Although Dickens considered Martin Chuzzlewit...

"In his exquisite first collection of speculative fiction, Courttia Newland envisages an alternate future as lived by the African diaspora. Kill parties roam the streets of a post-apocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on interbreeding with mortals to survive; mysterious seeds appear in cities across the world, growing into the likeness of people in their vicinity. Through transfigured bodies and impossible encounters, Newland...

A volume of twenty-three original crime tales by women authors features themes of lust and greed.

"At the deteriorating Pheasant Run, the occupants keep their secrets and sadnesses locked tight behind closed apartment doors. Kind Leo Umberti, formerly an insurance agent, now quietly spends his days painting abstract landscapes and mourning a long-ago loss. Down the hall, retired professor Rydell Clovis tries desperately to stay fit enough to restart a career in academia. Cassie McMackin, on the same floor, has seemingly lost everything - her husband...

Interweaving narratives of the residents of Midland, Texas, a widower, a spinster, a treasure hunter, and a local beauty with big dreams are all connected by place and human longing against a backdrop of greed, regret, and redemption.