Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (French: Madame Bovary : Mœurs de province, pronounced [madam bɔvaʁi mœʁ(s) də pʁɔvɛ̃s]), commonly known as simply Madame Bovary, is the début novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, originally published in 1856 and 1857. The eponymous character, Emma Bovary, lives beyond her means in order to escape the ennui of provincial life.

When the novel was first serialised in Revue de Paris between 1 October and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked it on the grounds that it was obscene. The resulting trial in January 1857 rendered it notorious. Following Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. The novel was translated in English by Eleanor Marx in 1886, where it was introduced to the English-speaking world and became a global bestseller. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now ranked among Flaubert's masterpieces, and one of the most influential literary works in history.