Illustrated Edition: Includes 20 beautifully curated illustrations that bring Emma's world to life

Bonus Materials: Concise summary, character list, and author biography for quick reference and deeper insight

Step into the shimmering, seductive world of provincial France—where dreams gleam like silk and reality cuts like glass. Madame Bovary follows Emma, a farmer's daughter who marries the gentle country doctor Charles Bovary expecting a life of passion and refinement. Instead, she confronts the slow pulse of small-town life: muddy roads, dull soirées, and the soft grind of routine. Hungry for beauty, love, and luxury, Emma chases her fantasies—romance, finery, and the glow of Paris—from one costly illusion to the next.
Flaubert's prose is famously exact—every sentence pared to its le mot juste—which makes Emma's journey feel both intimate and inexorable. This is not just a story of an unhappy marriage; it's a razor-sharp portrait of desire vs. reality, the quiet tyranny of bourgeois respectability, and the way debt and appearances can steer a life toward ruin. Cool, lucid, and devastatingly beautiful, Madame Bovary remains one of literature's most modern-feeling masterpieces.
Why this edition?
See the story: Twenty evocative illustrations highlight key moments and settings—from ballroom splendor to Yonville's shopfronts—enriching your reading experience without intruding on Flaubert's text.
Read smarter, faster: A crisp summary and handy character list help you orient quickly; an author biography illuminates Flaubert's relentless pursuit of style and how it shaped this novel.
Perfect for book clubs & classrooms: Ideal for first-time readers and returning admirers who want context at a glance.
Open these pages to meet Emma—romantic, reckless, unforgettable—and watch how a single longing can redraw an entire life.