num_pages: 327
description: Madame Bovary is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The 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.
language: English
title: Madame Bovary: Provincial Lives
titlecomplete: Madame Bovary: Provincial Lives
characters: Berthe Bovary, Charles Bovary, Rodolphe Boulanger, Emma Bovary, Monsieur Homais, Léon Dupuis
genres: Historical Fiction, French Literature, Novels, Literature, Classic Literature, Classics, Romance, Fiction, 19th Century, France
ratings_count: 322009
places: Yonville-l'Abbaye, France, Tostes, Rouen
publisher: Penguin Classics