It a coincidence that Gemma Bovery has a name rather like Flaubertβs notorious heroine? Is it by chance that, like Madame Bovary, Gemma is bored, adulterous, and a bad credit risk? Is she inevitably doomed?
Gemma is the pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children, and the bΓͺte noire of his ex-wife. A sudden windfall and Gemmaβs distaste for London take them across the Channel to Normandy, where the charms of French country living soon wear off.
Gemmaβs neighbor, the intellectual baker Joubert, is consumed by fascination for her. Denying voyeurism but nonetheless noting every change in the fit of Gemmaβs jeans, every addition to her wardrobe, all of her love bites and lovers, Joubertββwith the help of the heroineβs diariesββfollows her path toward ruin.
Adultery and its consequences. Disappointment and deception. Fat and slim. Then and now. Familiar ingredients of the novel are given new life in Gemma Boveryβs unique graphic form.
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