Madame Bovary

A marriage unravels in the quiet French countryside. Gustave Flaubert’s daring portrait of adultery caused a national scandal when it was first published. This masterpiece of realist literature has lost none of its impact today.

Young Emma Bovary dreams of love and riches but her relationship with Charles, a placid country doctor, is far from satisfying. In an attempt to escape the suffocating confines of her daily life, she embarks on a series of passionate love affairs, hoping to find the romantic ideal she always imagined in the arms of new men. It soon becomes clear, however, that Emma is hurtling towards tragedy . . .

Jane Eyre, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Lady Audley’s Secret are also available in this Macmillan Collector’s Library series of gorgeous paperbacks featuring four of the most scandalous novels ever published.