Le petit chose

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This first work by Alphonse Daudet draws heavily from the author's own biography. It follows Daniel Eyssette, a child from the South exiled in the fog of Lyon after his father's bankruptcy, who is derisively called "the little thing" by a professor. It also depicts his experiences as a terrified school monitor, a poor young man torn between dreams of glory and romantic temptations, wandering the streets of the capital. Characters such as the fearsome Mr. Viot, the unfortunate servant known as "the black-eyed one," the black woman Coucou-Blanc, and the tender older brother nicknamed "Mother Jacques" are vividly portrayed. While close in some respects to naturalism, Daudet's depiction of schools and literary bohemia is infused with the humor and poetry that made "Letters from My Mill" successful. A novel of a humiliated childhood, bearing a dark social vision and ambiguous morality that would resonate with Jules Vallès, "Le Petit Chose" remains a classic, straddling the worlds of Dickens and Zola.