Reading Groups

Madame Bovary and Disgrace: The Influence of Romantic Fiction with Sheila Kohler

6 Sessions via Zoom Wednesdays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT March 31 to June 9, 2021

The ‘With Books’ option includes both titles required for this group at a 15% discount.

Meeting Dates:
3/31, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/26, 6/9

We will read these two great books (Madame Bovary in four parts and Disgrace in two) and study the influence of romantic literature on both protagonists: Emma Bovary and David Lurie. We will look at how the authors of the two books use the romantic literature the characters read to portray the conflict between fiction and reality, which advances the plots in each book and brings both Emma and David to their inevitable and tragic fate.

Led by

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler is the author of eleven novels, three volumes of short fiction, a memoir, and many essays. Her most recent novel is Open Secrets (July 2020, Penguin). She has won numerous prizes including the O.Henry twice and been included in Best American Short Stories, most recently in 2013. Her work has been published in thirteen countries. She has taught at Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington and at Princeton since 2007. Her novel, Cracks was made into a film with directors Jordan and Ridley Scott, with Eva Green playing Miss G. You can find her blog at Psychology Today under “Dreaming for Freud.”

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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