La Mare au Diable (The Devil's Pool) is an 1846 novel by George Sand.
He and his wife cannot continue to take care of the three young children, and his son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby, so will not be able to help.
He leaves with his son, Pierre, and Mary, a young and beautiful 16 year old girl who needs to find a job in town.
The novel (specifically, its opening scene) is supposed to have been the inspiration for Rosa Bonheur's 1849 painting Ploughing in the Nivernais.
[2][3] A contrasexual reading of the novel was offered by James Hamilton, who suggested that, rather than see Germain as a projection of a male author, Marie could profitably be regarded as an ego-heroine; according to Hamilton, such a reading offers a better explanation of the title (and its explicit reference to a female element, water) and greater depth for Marie's two suitors.