Emma Bovary, the bored wife of a French provincial doctor, scans her solitude with desperate eyes, like a shipwrecked sailor searching for a white sail on the distant horizon. And when Emma's ship finally comes in, it carries with it vast and tragic consequences upon which her own life and the lives of those around her are wrecked.
Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) förnyade romankonsten, inte minst med Madame Bovary, men även med verk som Salammbô, Hjärtats fostran, Den helige Antonius frestelser och den ofullbordade berättelsen om Bouvard och Pécuchet.