Decided to try this French novella off the 1001 books to read before you die list. It was just ok. It's a simple story about a widowed farmer who finds love with a poor girl in his village. Sand begins by describing a Holbein painting of peasant and farming life and transitions into this tale of the working/lower classes.

I didn't find it particularly memorable. Likely I'd need to understand more about how it fits into French literature as a whole to get more out of it.

Original publication date: 1846
Author’s nationality: French
Original language: French
Length: 109 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased used paperback
Why I read this: off the shelf, 1001 books ( )

La Mare au Diable (1846) is the fifth book that I've read in the original French instead of in translation, and the second I've read by George Sand.

The novella is one of a series of four pastoral novels by George Sand (1804-1876): the others are François le Champi (1847–1848), La Petite Fadette (1849), and Les Beaux Messieurs Bois-Doré (1857). This edition is a student edition published by Nelson, and it still bears the sticker from Hall's Book Store in Bourke Street, where those of us of a certain age bought all our school text books. The book once belonged to the father of Bill from The Australian Legend and in beautiful copperplate, it bears his name and the date from September 1949. So the book is a real treasure, with a story of its own, thank you Bill!

As we know from Indiana (which I also read in French, see my review) George Sand was subversive. Notable for smoking in public and wearing men's clothes, she was also acerbic about marriage because of her views about equality of the sexes. However, La Mare au Diable is, at first glance anyway, a story of a happy marriage, a devastated widower, children in need of a mother, and in-laws pressuring their father into marrying again (because they have had to look after the children while he works on the farm.) And though the fates conspire against true love for most of the novel, it ends up satisfactorily.

However, the novella features two strong women who refuse to be pressured into marriage until they are ready. I have summarised the plot at Sensational Sand (here, but don't go there if you want to avoid spoilers), so suffice to say here that the woman that Germain is supposed to marry has been a widow for two years and has been playing off three suitors against each other for all that time because she's not in any hurry to marry again. She doesn't fancy any of them, but their presence signals to other men that she hasn't settled on widowhood and is open to the right offer. She is wealthy and has no children to support, so she has more choices than other women do.

But despite much more limited choices, the other woman, the one that Germain has fallen for, possibly under the influence of the Devil's Pool, doesn't fancy him either, because he's almost twice his age. He's also sulky and pessimistic.

TO read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/06/13/la-mare-au-diable-the-devils-pool-by-george-...

I've summarised my understanding of the plot in three posts at the Sensational Sand blog i.e. there are spoilers there:
https://sensationalsands.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/la-mare-au-diable-the-devils-p...
https://sensationalsands.wordpress.com/2019/06/12/la-mare-au-diable-the-devils-p...
https://sensationalsands.wordpress.com/2019/06/13/la-mare-au-diable-the-devils-p... ( )

On l'appelait la mare au Diable, car ses brumes, le soir, égaraient les voyageurs. Perdus à leur tour, Germain, Marie et le Petit Pierre sont forcés d'y passer la nuit. Le laboureur et la jeune fille ont le coeur triste. Germain va chercher une épouse pour s'occuper de ses enfants orphelins de leur mère. A quoi bon se marier, pense-t-il, quand l'amour n'y est pas. Et Marie a quitté sa mère, ce matin, en larmes, pour se louer comme bergère à la ferme des Ormeaux, si loin. Seul, Petit Pierre, le fils de Germain, est heureux et confiant. De lui dépendra le sort de ceux qu'il aime tant. Dédié à Chopin, ce bref roman champêtre a un charme inégalé. George Sand a vu le beau dans le simple. Elle chante, quelquefois en patois, les joies de l'amour, de l'enfance et du travail de la terre. Beaucoup d'amour et un peu d'idéalisme sont ses secrets

The Devil’s Pool by George Sand is a short simple novel about a young French farmer who has been widowed and left with three young children to raise. He lives with his in-laws who encourage him to remarry to provide a mother for his children.

His father-in-law has lined up a widow that he thinks would make a good wife and mother and the fact that she has both a dowry and some land is an added bonus. The young man is sent out to meet this widow and see if they can come to an agreement. He is asked to take a young neighbour with him as she is to work as a shepherdess at a farm along the way. Of course, this young farmer and the shepherdess find they have much in common and a mutual attraction. Along the way they must travel by the Devil’s Pool which brings clarity to the decision the young farmer must make.

I found this story charming and engaging with it’s exploration of the age-old question of whether one should chose to follow their heart or their brain. The author was inspired by the print called The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein and she wanted to show that farmers have a deep connection to the land and nature that is far more joyful and inspiring than the hardship and struggle that is usually used to describe their lives. ( )

Part of the 1001 list to read before you die. I enjoyed this story about a widowed man falling in love with a young girl instead of the woman he is supposed to be set up to marry. The story flowed easily and I liked all the characters. Ending was great because it was happy and I was expecting something sad or gloomy. ( )