Emile Źola's novel of peasant life is generally regarded as one of his finest achievements. Set in a village in northern France, it depicts the harshness of the peasants' world and their visceral attachment to the land. Jean Macquart, a veteran of the battle of Solferino and now an itinerant farm labourer, is drawn into the affairs of the Fouan family when he starts courting young Françoise, and becomes involved in a bitter dispute over the property of Papa Fouan when the old man divides his land between his three children. Resentment soon turns to greed and violence in a Darwinian battle for supremacy.