Three Tales
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First published in 1877, Gustave Flaubert’s Three Tales brings together three stories that range across different centuries and worlds, revealing the extraordinary breadth of one of French literature’s most exacting stylists. In A Simple Heart, Félicité, a devoted servant in provincial Normandy, finds meaning in a life marked by affection, loss and unwavering faith; The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller transforms a medieval saint’s legend into a haunting meditation on violence, fate and redemption; while Herodias returns to the ancient world of biblical Salome, John the Baptist and Herod Antipas, unfolding amid political intrigue and religious tension.
Moving between intimate realism, medieval legend and biblical drama, Flaubert unites these seemingly disparate tales through his fascination with faith, suffering, cruelty and the elusive nature of transcendence. His prose shifts effortlessly from the plain details of everyday life to the splendour of historical spectacle, demonstrating the precision and imaginative daring that distinguish his work. The last work of fiction published during his lifetime, Three Tales stands as a remarkable late achievement, offering a concentrated expression of Flaubert’s artistic vision beyond the better-known world of Madame Bovary.
From the book
“She loved him because of the habit she had formed of loving him.”
— Gustave Flaubert, Three Tales
On Three Tales
“One of the most extraordinary spiritual journeys ever accomplished outside any religion.”
— Italo Calvino