Gemma Bovery: Posy Simmonds

Gemma is the bored, pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children and the bete-noire of his ex-wife. Gemma`s sudden windfall and distaste for London take them across the Channel to Normandy, where the charms of French country living soon wear off.

Is it a coincidence that Gemma Bovery has a name rather like Flaubert`s notorious heroine? Is it by chance that, like Madame Bovary, Gemma is bored, adulterous, and a bad credit risk? Is she inevitably doomed? These questions consume Gemma`s neighbour, the intellectual baker, Joubert. Denying voyeurism, but nevertheless noting every change in the fit of her jeans, every addition to Gemma`s wardrobe, her love-bites and lovers, Joubert, with the help of the heroine`s diaries, follows her path towards ruin. Adultery and its consequences. Disappointment and deception. The English in France. Fat and slim. Then and now.