Short stories really, translated by D.H. Lawrence. There is a vast glossary to this edition, whose entries often appear superfluous; the meaning is clear enough in the original and further nuances of meaning to the text are minor matters.

The stories are of the cruel lives of farm labourers struggling under the threat of eviction, fraud, violence and despotic power. The setting is eastern Sicily near Catania. The stories reminded me of Maxim Gorky's stories about his youth in Russia. Poverty stricken people have little recourse but to be cruel amongst themselves in societies as broken down as those in Nineteenth century Sicily. Remoteness from effective law and government, corrupt and venal clergy, and fatalistic beliefs create a social order that is forever at risk from famine, wild nature and bankruptcy.