Julius, paperback/daphne du maurier

A chilling story of ambition, Daphne du Mauriers third novel has lost none of its ability to unsettle and disturb.

Julius Lévy has grown up in a peasant family in a village on the banks of the Seine.

A quick-witted urchin caught up in the Franco-Prussian War, he is soon forced by tragedy to escape to Algeria.

Once there, he learns the ease of swindling, the rewards of love affairs, and the value of secrecy.

Before he’s 20, he’s in London, where his empire-building begins in earnest.

Driven by a lifelong hunger for power, he becomes a rich and ruthless man.

His one weakness is his daughter Gabriel.