Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) was a French novelist, born in Rouen, the son of a surgeon. After abandoning law studies he lived most of his life with his mother at Croisset on the Seine, writing with notorious slowness in search of the exact word. Madame Bovary, his first published novel, led to a prosecution for immorality in 1857 and, after his acquittal, to fame. Salammbô, Sentimental Education, The Temptation of Saint Anthony and Three Tales followed, and he left the satirical Bouvard and Pécuchet unfinished at his death. His correspondence, especially with Louise Colet and George Sand, is one of the great records of a writer's craft.