Publisher's Synopsis
This new bilingual edition is translated from French by Eleanor Marx-Aveling. The French version is illustrated by Albert Fourié (1885). Madame Bovary (full French title: Madame Bovary. Moeurs de province) is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.When the novel was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history. The British critic James Wood writes: "Flaubert established, for good or ill, what most readers think of as modern realist narration, and his influence is almost too familiar to be visible."Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), French writer, counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary, and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.
