Summary

The prologue opens in the middle of a deposition. The United States is suffering the scourge of the opioid epidemic, and prosecutors are looking for answers about its origin. Their investigation has led them to the Sackler family and now to Kathe Sackler specifically. Somehow, Kathe manages to evade responsibility for epidemic, blaming instead a complex mix of social problems, medical problems, and regulatory gaps.

Chapter 1 recounts the events surrounding the birth and childhood of Arthur Sackler and his two brothers, Mortimer and Raymond. The brothers' parents are Isaac and Sophie Sackler. Both Isaac and Sophie were immigrants, Sophie arriving from Poland in 1906 and Isaac arriving by ship two years earlier. Isaac was almost twenty years older than Sophie. Nonetheless, the two settled down and began a family with Arthur as the oldest son, then Mortimer three years later, and finally Raymond...