Gustave Flaubert's first published novel 'Madame Bovary' has been enjoyed by readers around the world for over 150 years. A fantastically well-written novel, it is considered by many to be Flaubert's masterpiece, and the author himself confessed to be a perfectionist when it came to the details. It was considered shocking at the time due to it's focus on the adulterous affairs of a doctor's wife. This is the English translation of the original French text.