This is a short novel from the 1840s and published in a serial form by George Sand, the pseudonym of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. While George Sand is quite famous, obviously, I don’t feel like she’s got the same status as other 19th century French novelists or other 19th century female novelists working in contemporary times. This novel begins with a thematic prologue from the narrative voice (a full of life authorial voice) who discusses looking at a famous painting of Holbein, looking at a small inscription that lauds the integrity of the man of labour.
We then begin the novel with a discussion between Germain, our man of labour, and his father in law. The father in law tells him that it’s been a few years since the death of his daughter, Germain’s dead wife, and perhaps now that he’s almost a gross old man (28) he should settle down with a second wife. He suggests a friend’s daughter–also a widow–who’s name is Catherine, German’s dead wife’s name, so that would be very convenient. German thinks about it and decides that this Catherine is 32, and that’s gross, and he even thinks she might be ugly and it would be bad to have ugly kids. So instead he turns his eye to a much more age appropriate potential mate, a 16 year old.
So the rest of the novel is him trying to convince her (oh, by the way, there’s no irony in this novel) that he’s not old and gross and to just trust him on this.
They get married when he decides to ghost her and she realizes she is a fool.
Then there’s a very strange final 30 pages describing their wedding in ways that were very atonal to the rest of the novel. Anyway, here’s that painting:
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Pool-Amantine-Lucile-Aurore/dp/1979575711/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2ZX8R6BWUKOJF&keywords=the+devil%27s+pool+george+sand&qid=1550331785&s=gateway&sprefix=the+devil%27s+pool%2Caps%2C349&sr=8-2)
