Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) was a French novelist best known for Madame Bovary (1857), his debut novel about a provincial doctor's wife who chases romance through a string of affairs. He is considered the leading exponent of literary realism in France and abroad, and his close attention to style shows throughout his Correspondence. His other books include the historical novel Salammbo, Sentimental Education, and the collection Three Tales. Guy de Maupassant was one of the writers he mentored.