Flaubert: A Life

"How is it that Flaubert, the last of the great French romantics, still seems so incredibly modern? In this biography, Geoffrey Wall investigates why it is that the author of Madame Bovary still exerts such a hold upon our imaginations.". "Gustave Flaubert lived quietly at home with his widowed mother, writing wonderful novels at a rate of five words an hour and escaping to Paris, for refreshment, every few months. A great traveller - to Corsica, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Morocco - he kept company with courtesans, actresses, acrobats, gypsies, idiots and simpletons of every stripe. Flaubert detested his respectable, provincial neighbours, referring to them, on a bad day, as 'the bourgeoisie'. They, in turn, heaped infamy upon his name and contrived to have him persecuted for writing an immoral book. Decent people avoided his company and he returned the compliment.".