Little Fadette

She was christened Françoise, but everyone in the village called her little Fadette, because she lived with her grandmother, Mother Fadet, who brewed herbal cures for all the ailments known to man and a few besides. Shunned by the village because of her poverty and her mother's disgrace, Fadette is too spirited and intelligent to take such treatment meekly, and she takes refuge in rebellious impudence and tomboy high spirits. But when Landry Barbeau comes to her defence and treats her with unexpected kindness the change in her surprises the whole village. But before the love story can come to a happy conclusion Fadette's patience and good sense are tested....This is George Sand's best known and most accomplished pastoral novel, and the reader's sympathy is total. Her characters are alive and fully realised, presented with that blend of tenderness and humour, delicacy and common sense which has made her name immortal and her work as fresh as the day it was written.