The Fat and the Thin

The Fat and the Thin is set at the abundant food markets of Paris, where its protagonist, Lisa Quenu, has grown selfish with her new-found prosperity.
Excerpt from its preface: "...it also embraces a powerful allegory-- the prose song of the eternal battle between the lean of this world and the fat – a battle in which, as the author shows, the latter always come off successful. M. Zola had a distinct social aim in writing this book."
Painting at right: Eugène Galien-Laloue, Le marché in Paris, 1941