Gustave Flaubert (18211880), the younger son of a provincial doctor, briefly studied law before devoting himself to writing, with limited success during his lifetime. After the publication of Madame Bovaryin 1857, he was prosecuted for offending public morals. Geoffrey Wall is author of the critically acclaimed Flaubert: A Life and translated Madame Bovary for Penguin Classics. Roger Whitehouse has taught at the Sorbonne and at Bolton Institute, where he is a research fellow.
Poet and novelist Michele Roberts was born in Hertfordshire, England and graduated from Oxford University. She has written two volumes of poetry (The Mirror of the Mother and Psyche and the Hurricane), a collection of short stories (During Mother's Absence) and several novels (including Daughters of the House, winner of the W. H. Smith Literary Award).