Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris: The Story of a Friendship, a Novel, and a Terrible Year

Renowned for his 1856 novel, Madame Bovary, and the scandal it caused, French author Gustave Flaubert (1821–80) wrote several other novels, which tend to receive less attention. Here, Brooks (comparative literature, Princeton Univ.; Enigmas of Identity) examines one of these other works, the misunderstood and poorly received Sentimental Education, using the backdrop of the "Terrible Year" (1870–71) during the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. Using Flaubert's correspondence with writer George Sand, as well as other sources, he explores Flaubert's firm belief that a better initial reception to Sentimental Education would have prevented the destruction caused by these conflicts. He examines how these and other events influenced Flaubert's political evolution from a hard-line monarchist to a republican sympathizer. Brooks also includes chapters on photography (that documented the destruction of Paris) and the building of the Sacré-Coeur cathedral. The author's description of 19th-century French politics not only documents the rifts found between Parisians and the rest of France, they also resonate in today's divisive political climate.