Germain, a late-twenties widower, still lives with his late wife’s family. Germain’s father-in-law Maurice decides that two years is long enough to grieve; Germain needs a wife, and his children need a mother. Maurice has investigated, and found what he believes is a suitable match in a neighboring village. He sends Germain off to meet the woman, and on the way drops off a teenage girl at the farm where she has been newly employed. The rest of the novel demonstrates the old aphorism of “the best-laid plans... often go awry.”

The Devil’s Pool is the first of four pastoral novels that George Sand originally intended to release together. They were inspired by the community in which she was raised.