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Gemma Bovery Posy Simmonds 9780375423390 Books

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Gemma Bovery Posy Simmonds 9780375423390 Books

A delightful, witty and entertaining read.
Seller's customer service was outstanding.


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Gemma Bovery Posy Simmonds 9780375423390 Books Reviews

This graphic novel begins in Bailleville, Normandy with the death of 31-year-old Gemma Bovery. Narrated alternately by the French baker Raymond Joubert and through excerpts from Gemma's diary, Gemma's story slowly unfolds. The beautiful British decorator marries Charlie Bovery, becomes caught up in a dead-end career, and is reluctantly involved in Charlie's domestic conflicts with his ex-wife and children. She decides to flee her dreary London life, and she talks Charlie into buying a home in the rural French countryside. Small town life seems no better for her, however, as her charming country cottage develops water leaks and is infested with pests. She tries to escape her boredom through adulterous love affairs and a spending spree that causes financial problems. Joubert, her next-door neighbor, becomes obsessed with Gemma, spies on her, and becomes jealous of her lovers.

If you have any familiarity with French literature, the title "Gemma Bovery" should immediately remind you of the Flaubert novel "Madame Bovary." And if that's not enough, the parallels in the two story lines should make it obvious that this is not mere coincidence. But this story is more than a retelling of the classic novel, and there are as many differences from as there are similarities to the original. It is a witty modernization of a timeless tale that satirizes the aspirations and foibles of the yuppie middle class as well as the cultural differences between the French and British. In no way are the similarities between Emma Bovary and Gemma Bovery subtly presented. Author Posy Simmonds revels in them through the observations and machinations of Joubert, who warns others of parallels between the two and tries to prevent Gemma from coming to the same tragic end as Emma did.

For a graphic novel, there is a lot of text. But the cartoon panels are interspersed with the text, diary entries, and snippets of partially translated French dialog in a wonderfully layered fashion and are rich in detail. There are twists in the story as the details about Gemma's death are revealed. Whether you have read the original French classic or not, and whether you are a graphic novel fan or not, this is a creative and entertaining story you will enjoy.

Eileen Rieback
I was so surprised that anyone gave this brilliant book a negative review that I figured I had to weigh in a little. It is true that the title character may not be sympathetic (she has affairs, seems manipulative & flighty), and one either likes that or not. But the real strength of the story is in how the story is told. There is a lot of distance from Gemma since a lot of the narrative is from Joubert the baker point of view.

This engages the reader a lot since you don't really know where he's coming from until the end and then you realize how really sad the whole thing was especially since the final part (no spoilers) and his culpability was minor and unintentional.

Also I thought the art work was just grand. It reminded me a lot of Shel Silverstein's early ink cartoon work. There's just a lot of wonderful detail and expression. Overall I would recommend this to anyone both for the story and the art.
My son ordered the book Gemma Bovery for one of his sophomore college classes. This book served the purpose for this class.
Posy Simmonds does a great job expanding the world of comic books or graphic novels or illustrated novellas or how ever you want to call this good stuff.
Great book, excellent condition. Love the binding and paper quality, too!
I didn't like it as much as her later graphic novel, "Tamara Drewe." Beautifully illustrated, as usual of Simmonds, but the story point of view 'as told by' the baker/neighbor of the Boveries just seemed awkward and too 'meta.' And turning Flaubert's tragedy into a [WARNING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ENDING] fluke accident felt a cheap cop out.
Classic Posy , a brilliant talent . I followed her work from when I used to read her Weber Family saga/panels in the UK Guardian,
all her work is funny and with wonderful graphics/penwomanship.
A delightful, witty and entertaining read.
Seller's customer service was outstanding.