This progression of three tales set in the nineteenth century, in the present and in the near future, respectively, holds a message that is just as relevant in each era. The issue under scrutiny is greed and the way it underlies human society.

George Braithwaite is an ambitious young entrepreneur, intent on amassing wealth at any cost. He sees the commercial possibilities of attaching himself to David Livingstone’s party, as they plan to open up unexplored areas of Africa to the West. Things do not quite turn out as George plans. In fact, George builds up a trading empire in Zanzibar but finds himself troubled by the ethics of the slave trade, with which he is involved.

Luke Carlisle practices orthopedic surgery in a private clinic in South Africa. He is torn between his own social conscience, which dictates to him that he should do all he can to help the less fortunate members of the grossly inequitable society in which he lives, and the greed of his wife, whose insatiable appetite for luxuries drains the family finances. In trying to reconcile these poles, he uncovers a shocking web of corruption into which he is drawn.

New Yorker Paul Bannister inherits a fortune from his father but feels that both the money and the family business are more like millstones than blessings. Moreover, his father’s death has sparked a desire within him to search for the mother who had abandoned him as a baby. His selfless efforts to help the poor and homeless of the city attract media attention, especially from Carla Granelli’s GNTV, and Paul finds himself leading a nationwide crusade to ‘live simply, live honestly and live with yourself’.

Each of these men’s lives are changed when they encounter incarnations of a revered Holy Man in India, Sai Baba.

Murray McMillan’s thought-provoking stories pose many awkward questions, prompting the reader to consider the way that greed is endemic within society • almost accepted as normal! ... Does it really have to be this way?

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