num_pages: 431
description: Emma Bovary is an avid reader of sentimental novels; brought up on a Normandy farm and convent-educated, she longs for the passion of romance. At first, Emma pins her hopes on marriage, but life with her well-meaning husband in the provinces leaves her bored and dissatisfied. She seeks escape through extravagant spending sprees and, eventually, adultery. As Emma pursues her impossible reverie she seals her own ruin and despair. Exquisite, moving, at times ferociously satirical and always psychologically acute, "Madame Bovary" remains one of the greatest, most beguiling novels ever written.
language: English
title: Madame Bovary: Life in a Countrytown
titlecomplete: Madame Bovary: Life in a Countrytown
characters: Charles Bovary, Berthe Bovary, Rodolphe Boulanger, Léon Dupuis, Emma Bovary, Monsieur Homais
genres: Fiction, France, French Literature, Classic Literature, Literature, Romance, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 322185
places: Yonville-l'Abbaye, France, Tostes, Rouen
publisher: Hamlyn