 "Moromeţii I" is the first novel in the series, written at the time when Preda was known to the public and critics for his short stories.Ilie Moromete, his wife Catrina, their children Ilinca, Tita and Niculae, and Ilie's older sons from a previous marriage, Paraschiv, Nilă and Achim, seem to live, although not excepted from difficulties, a regular life.Their story, covering a couple of years in the late 1930s, is in some way the negation of the opening phrase of the novel