Early Financie

The first in a "trilogy of desire", The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of flamboyant finance captain C. T. Yerkes, Theodore Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the unscrupulous magnate Cowperwood embodies the idea that behind every great fortune there is a crime.

The Financier is the first volume of Theodore Dreiser’s novel Trilogy of Desire which also consists of "The Titan" and "The Stoic". The protagonist, Frank Algernon Cowperwood, is based on the real-life millionaire Charles Tyson Yerkes. In The Financier, Dreiser describes the early life of Cowperhood in Philadelphia, beginning with his first transaction in an auction at the age of 17. This is followed by his rapid rise with jobs at Henry Waterman & Company, and Tighe & Company, forming his own business and trading on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

This powerful novel explores the dynamics of the financial world during the Civil War and after the stock market panic caused by the Chicago fire. Frank Cowperwood, a ruthlessly domineering wheeler-dealer, experiences both the heights and the depths of the financial world, always with his loving mistress championing his every move.

Set in 18th century Philadelphia, the book follows Frank as he amasses a large fortune through stock speculation and purchases of shares in the growing street railway industry. He marries an older woman and has two children and uses his new found wealth to become socially prominent. Things however take a turn for the worst when he has an affair with Aileen Butler, the daughter of a politically prominent Irish industrialist.