George Sands’ novels in tune with nature | Letters

“What would a novel look like if it was written by someone who sang to the forest and believed it sang back?” asked Paul Kingsnorth (Call of the wild, Review, 23 July). A writer who comes close to that is George Sand in her romans champêtres set in her beloved region, Berry. In La Mare au Diable (The Devil’s Pond), for example, the pond and the forest play an active part in the story, though the humans are still the centre of interest. She doesn’t quite give human a