Madame Bovary

In Madame Bovary, Charles, an awkward country doctor courts and weds Emma, the beautiful young daughter of a patient.

Emma, unsuited to the role of housewife, quickly gets restless and begins to explore her passions.

This leads to infidelities which she hides from Charles and, eventually, mounting debts as she turns to merchandise for her happiness.

Flaubert's novel is cited as the first example of literary realism and has been called a perfect work of fiction.

Milan Kundera and Vladimir Nabokov have both described Madame Bovary as poetry in the form of prose.