Madame Bovary
by Gustave Flaubert
1856
A devastating cautionary tale about the dangers of fantasy, snobbery and romantic yearning, the story of frustrated doctor’s wife Emma Bovary transformed the novel with its meticulous rendering of small-town life in mid-19th-century France. Scholars note that there is no record of Flaubert ever saying “Madame Bovary, c’est moi”, the quote often attributed to him as evidence for the ultimately autobiographical nature of all fiction.
First sentence
“We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a ‘new fellow,’ not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk.”
Total votes 19
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