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.