The Simple Man's Life

Emile Guillaumin, a French peasant who worked his small farm in central France for his entire life, wrote the story of “Tiennon” in order to show people in Moulins, Paris, and beyond what life was like for a sharecropper. Born in 1823, Tiennon’s story is told through the guise of fiction by Guillaumin, who, like Tiennon, only received a few years of formal education before dedicating himself to his farm and reserving his nights for study and writing.

Guillaumin believed that the French peasant had been misrepresented in contemporary literature. He felt that writers like George Sand romanticized their lives, while others depicted them as powerless victims of nature, such as Zola. Guillaumin wanted to set the record straight and provide an accurate portrayal of the French peasant experience.

The result of his efforts is a powerful first-person narrative that can be appreciated as a work of fiction, but also serves as valuable historical material for researchers seeking to understand the reality of peasant life in nineteenth-century France. Through Tiennon’s story, readers gain insight into the struggles, triumphs, and everyday existence of French peasants during this time period.

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