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Gemma Bovery
by Posy Simmonds |
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| Publishing Data |
 Originally serialized in The Guardian, a newspaper in Manchester, England, in one-page weekly installments during the summer of 1999 as The Late Gemma Bovery, a Tale of Adultery and Soft Furnishings. |
| Published as an oversized hardback in 1999. |
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| After the death of Gemma Bovery, who with her husband Charlie had moved to Normandy from England, her neighbor Raymond Joubert steals her diaries to examine her life and the events that led up to her death. |
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| Background |
| Note how each page of the novel can stand on its own as a discrete episode in the narrative. |
| David Hughes in the Spectator says about this novel: "'All that ever needs to be said about the English trying to settle in France, the unsettling nature of the French, the nature of culture clash, lurks with sly hilarity. . . .'" (Contemporary Authors Online) |
| Mark Sobel in Insomnia.zine says that "'Gemma Bovery challenges the stereotype of what a comic book is. . . .It transcends genre, and therein lies one of its greatest strengths.'" (Contemprary Authors Online) |
The novel is based loosely on Madame Bovary (1857), a French masterpiece by Gustav Flaubert.
In Madame Bovary foolish, romantic Emma Roualt marries country doctor Charles Bovary. Drawn to romantic novels and frustrated with her marriage, Emma takes up with the dashing and cynical landowner Rodolphe and later with the clerk Leon. Unlucky in love and deeply in debt, Emma eventually commits suicide by swallowing poison. |
There are some basic correspondences between the characters of Simmonds' novel and the characters of Madame Bovary:
- Gemma Bovery corresponds to Emma Bovary
- Charlie Bovery corresponds to Dr. Charles Bovary
- Joubert the baker corresponds to Homais, the pharmacist and local gossip
- Gemma takes two lovers: Hervé and Patrick; Emma takes two lovers, Rodolphe and Leon
In a review of Gemma Bovery, Derik Badman points out some differences between the two works:
- Emma reads romantic novels; Gemma reads glossy magazines.
- Emma tries to appear to be of a higher class; Gemma tries to be more rustic in the decoration of her home.
- Flaubert satirizes the French country and the French middle class; Simmonds satirizes contemporary British society, especially yuppies who vacation in Normandy.
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| Jamie S. Rich points out that "Through Joubert's literary fantasies, Simmonds creates a metafictional veneer, setting up her own complex metaphors about the interweaving of 'real life' and 'fiction' (one can even stop to ponder how much the illustrator Gemma is a reflection of the illustrator Posy. . . ." |
Stella Tillyard cites a conversation in which Simmonds describes Gemma "as a survivor who, had she not met such an untimely end, would probably have upped sticks and started all over again."
Tillyard also notes that "Simmonds uses Flaubert to chart the distance between middle-class life now and a century ago, but she is surely attracted to him also because he is, like herself, both detached from and implicated in the world he creates. Flaubert often expressed disgust at the pettiness of his subjects' milieu, but also declared that he was Madame Bovary." |
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| Discussion Guide |
| Characterize Gemma. Of what significance is her occupation? Why does she marry Charlie? What is the source of her impulse to move to Normandy? How much of your perception of Gemma comes from the text and how much from the drawings? |
| Characterize Charlie. Why do you think he and Judi got divorced? Characterize his relationships with his ex-wife and his children. Why did he marry Gemma? Of what significance is Charlie's occupation? How much of your perception of Charlie comes from the text and how much from the drawings? |
| Characterize Joubert. Why does he steal Gemma's diaries? How much of your perception of Joubert comes from the text and how much from the drawings? |
| Characterize the tone of Joubert's narration. What are his attitudes toward Gemma and Charlie? Why is he obsessed with the possibility that Gemma's life is somehow connected to the story of Madame Bovary? |
| Characterize Charlie's ex-wife Judi. What are her motives for constantly haranguing Charlie? |
| How are Gemma's two lovers--Patrick Large and Hervé de Bressigny--alike? How are they different? How do each of them feel about Gemma? How does Gemma feel about each of them? |
| What attitudes toward the British are portrayed in this novel? |
| What attitudes toward the French are portrayed in this novel? |
| How much responsibility for what happens to Gemma do you attribute to Joubert? How much to Charlie? How much to Patrick? How much to Gemma herself? |
| Why does Simmonds mix text fonts throughout the novel? What effect does the use of these various fonts have on the story? |
| What effect does Simmonds' use of French--both with and without translation--have on the story? |
| How does the way Simmonds lays out her panels and her text affect the story? |
| Comment on the last line of the novel. |
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Novels
© 2005 Dr. Agatha Taormina
Last Revised:
November 5, 2009
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