Madame Bovary

This hardcover edition is cleanly formatted for easy reading. 12 point Garamond, 1.15 spacing. After marrying Charles Bovary, an ordinary country doctor, Emma Rouault hopes to have the adventurous life of passion and intrigue that she reads about in books. However, she is disappointed with her husband and provincial life. It is anything but the romantic excitement she longs for. In her desire to fulfill her dreams she travels down a winding path of adultery and deception. When Madame Bovary appeared in La Revue de Paris in October 1856, public prosecutors attacked it for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal in February 1857, Madame Bovary was published in book form and became an instant bestseller. The novel is considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history. The British critic James Wood writes: "Flaubert('s)...influence is almost too familiar to be visible."