Words fail when trying to convey just how much I hated every second of this book. I don't think I have ever hated a character as much as I hated Madame Bovary and I pretty much hated Voldemort with every cell in my body. I understand that Flaubert was going for realism, but Emma was beyond realism. She seemed a caricature of all that I would hate in a woman. A bored simpleton who thinks obsessively only about herself and makes the stupidest decisions. Yep, I am convinced that Flaubert had a time machine, flew to my part of the world, read my mind and then drew up a character that I would despise. I never give books one star but here we are with only one star. I cannot give it more. I certainly hope when I take my English exam next semester that this book is not on it because I truly do not want to waste one more moment thinking about it.