Madame Bovary

Emma Bovary, beautiful and ambitious but bored by her life in the provinces and her marriage to a country doctor, craves passion in her life. She tries to escape into sentimental novels and to find glamour in expensive fashion and an elaborately decorated home. Her self-obsession and romantic fantasies lead her into two disappointing affairs and escalating debt as Emma struggles to make her life everything she believes it should be, and her efforts lead only to disaster and ruin. Deemed so lifelike that many women claimed they were the model for his heroine, Flaubert instead insisted: Madame Bovary, cest moi. This new translation by Lydia Davis captures the modern tone that Flaubert developed to reflect the weight and complexity of Emmas psychology. It also renders the richness of the original text and the subtleties of Flauberts celebrated style.