"Le Mauvais Génie" by comtesse de Sophie Ségur is a novel published in 1867. When turkeys go missing from a farm, young Julien faces blame for their disappearance. The real culprit is Frédéric, the farmer's son, led astray by the wicked Alcide. What begins as petty theft escalates into more serious crimes, forcing Frédéric to join the army to atone for his mistakes. This moralistic yet humorous tale follows his struggle for redemption against the persistent bad influence threatening to destroy his future. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.