It is a first novel and it is an ultimate work. It is a stylistic revolution and a political scandal. It is a woman and it is the whole human race. It is a novelist of the 19th century and it is our eternal contemporary. From October 1 to December 15, 1856, Gustave Flaubert had Madame Bovary, mœurs de province published in serial form in the Revue de Paris. Just over a month later, he was brought before the courts for "offences against public and religious morality and decency". Penalty: one year in prison.