It tells the story of a small hamlet in Provence where the superstitious residents struggle against nature, as their settlement is struck by several misfortunes.

It is the first installment in the author's Pan trilogy; it was followed by the standalone novels Lovers are Never Losers and Second Harvest.

Other misfortunes follow, including a devastating forest fire, and the villagers begin to suspect that Janet is the source of the problems.

[2] Teodore Purdy Jr. wrote in The Saturday Review: "Giono's particular distinction lies in the emphasis which he puts on the unknown element, the hidden malice which accompanies every event of his story.

The power of the soil, the trees, and the beasts of the field,—'even the small ones,' M. Giono adds,—over the blindly struggling peasant has seldom been more eloquently stated.