This book consists of five short stories, each of which has death as its subject.
Five very different people, with different backgrounds, social positions and life stories die in this book.
A man dies unloved; a woman dies while worrying about her wasteful children; another one dies, worried about all the work that has been left undone; an old farmer dies, thinking about the harvest; a poor child dies, unfed and cold.
Young or old, rich or poor, sinner or saint, all end up in the ground, under a pile of soil.
In these bleak stories, touching on the most inevitable event of one’s life, Zola, portrays each individual’s inner thoughts, their death, their funeral procession and their families’ response to death.