The book, entitled Chłopi in Polish, has been published in Britain by Penguin in a translation by Anna Zaranko.
The Peasants won Reymont the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1924.
Described by Penguin as “one of Poland's most engrossing twentieth-century epics,” it was originally published in four volumes between 1904 and 1909.
The publisher’s synopsis says: “In the village of Lipce, scandal, romance and drama crackle in every hearth. Boryna, a widower and the village’s wealthiest farmer, has taken the young and beautiful Jagusia as his bride – but she only has eyes for his impetuous son Antek.
"Over the course of four seasons – Autumn to Summer – the tangled skein of their story unravels, watched eagerly by the other peasants: the gossip Jagustynka, pious Roch, hot-blooded Mateusz, gentle Witek … Richly lyrical and thrillingly realist, at turns comic, tragic and reflective, Władysław Reymont’s magnum opus is a love song to a lasting dream of rural Poland, and to the eternal, timeless matters of the heart."
The novel has twice been made into a feature film, in 1922 and 1972. The 1972 version was also made into a highly popular television series.
(mk/gs)