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Born in Berkshire Posy Simmonds studied French at the Sorbonne before returning to England to attend art school. Posy Simmonds is best known for her weekly cartoon strip which ran in the Guardian from 1977 to 1987. The collected cartoons were published as Mrs Weber's Diary, True Love, Pick of Posy, Very Posy, Pure Posy and Mustn't Grumble. She is also the author of several books for children, among them Lulu and the Flying Babies and Fred, whose film version was nominated for an Oscar in 1998. She was Cartoonist of the Year in 1980 and 1981 and in 1998 was overall winner of the National Art Library Illustrations Award. The hugely popular Gemma Bovery was published in 1999, followed by Literary Life, and her next graphic novel for adults, Tamara Drew, will be published in 2007.
Flaubert famously declared himself to be Madame Bovary, but with this intriguing, inventive graphic novel, Posy Simmonds triumphantly reincarnates his heroine in her very own way. Spoilt and bored, Gemma sweet talks husband Charlie into moving to Normandy, where new man rather than new surroundings sets off the catastrophic chain of events. Mixing diary entries and comment from chief witness, the obsessive, creepy narrator, Joubert, it's loosely based on the classic, i.e. themes of adultery and debt still feature, though Gemma eventually demonstrates some redeeming qualities. All the characters are dreadfully funny (ineffectual Charlie, pretentious foodie Patrick), and it's all spiced up with meticulous, malicious observations de nos jours, pinpointing the curious behaviour of the English abroad. One complaint only, when the twists of the splendidly Gallic climax turn into bathos. Nonetheless, part romance, part thriller, wholly witty, it's refreshingly different and a joy to behold. (Kirkus UK)
