Salon littéraire: Un coeur simple de Flaubert


SATURDAY, August 26
2:30PM - 3:30 PM
SUITE 204 (LIBRARY)


Join us at the AFSeattle Library for our traditional Salon littéraire. This time, we will go back to our classics and discover a short story by Gustave Flaubert, Un coeur simple

As a reminder, the discussion is recommended for French speakers at level A2+ (upper intermediate) or above. However, participants are welcome to read the book in English if they prefer.

Free for AF members / $5 for non-member. Please RSVP below!


The Book

Un coeur simple is the story of a servant girl named Felicité. After her one and only love Théodore purportedly marries a well-to-do woman to avoid conscription, Felicité quits the farm where she works and heads for Pont-l'Évèque, where she picks up work in a widow's house as a servant.
This short story describing the kind of life that many poor, uneducated, single women led in the 19th century was written by Flaubert three years before his death.

The Author

Gustave Flaubert, (born December 12, 1821 in  Rouen, France—died May 8, 1880, Croisset) was a French novelist regarded as the leader of the realist movement. He is best known for his masterpiece, Madame Bovary (1857), a realistic portrayal of bourgeois life, which led to a trial on charges of the novel's alleged  immorality. Flaubert sought objectivity above all else in his writing: “The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere.”

Where to find a copy?

French Version: 


English Version:


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