Mauprat

George Sand set this 1837 novel in the wild Berry countryside she knew from childhood, telling of Bernard de Mauprat, a young man raised among a clan of brutal, half-feral nobles. When he helps his cousin Edmee escape their stronghold, he forces from her a promise to marry, then spends years learning to deserve her instead. Sand frames the story as a long argument that love is worth nothing without education and self-mastery, and Edmee, who refuses to be won by force, becomes one of her most quietly forceful heroines. Part Gothic romance and part moral fable, it remains among Sand’s most admired books. A free PDF and EPUB edition are available here.