How many pages is Madame Bovary?

About 256 pages, though editions of a book this old vary a great deal — which is why its reading time comes from the complete text instead: 115,892 words, about 7½ hrs of reading at an average pace.

Is Madame Bovary worth reading?

We score it 4.8 out of 10 for the time it takes — a hard sell for the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.55 out of 5 from 489 ratings, which counts for 4.9; at about 7½ hrs at an average pace it gives back 0.1 for its length.

How long is the Madame Bovary audiobook?

About 13 hrs, estimated from the 116,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

Find a copy Listen on Audible · ≈13 hrs

Madame Bovary

Name: Madame Bovary
Author: Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert

7½ hrsto read

4.8worth it

At your speed≈ 7½ hrs

Pages256

Audiobook≈ 13 hrs

Times shown for 250 words a minute (average)

The complete text runs to 115,892 words, counted word for word. At an average 250 words a minute that is 7½ hrs — a weekend's reading.

Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.55 out of 5, from 489 ratings.

Worth-it score 4.8/10 — A hard sell for the time. Readers 4.9 (Hardcover's 3.55★ from 489 ratings) − length 0.1 = 4.8. How the score works →

How long does it take to read Madame Bovary?

The complete text of Madame Bovary runs to 115,892 words — about 256 pages in the edition we list. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:

Estimated reading time for Madame Bovary at three reading speeds.
Your pace	Words per minute	Time to finish
Slow	175	11 hrs
Average	250	7½ hrs
Fast	400	5 hrs

Counted word for word from the complete public-domain text on Project Gutenberg, so these times don't depend on any one edition's page count. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts. Prefer to listen? At a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute the audiobook runs about 13 hrs — an estimate from the word count, since narrators vary.

Common questions

How long does it take to read Madame Bovary?: About 7½ hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The complete text of Madame Bovary runs to 115,892 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 11 hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 5 hrs.
How many pages is Madame Bovary?: About 256 pages, though editions of a book this old vary a great deal — which is why its reading time comes from the complete text instead: 115,892 words, about 7½ hrs of reading at an average pace.
Is Madame Bovary worth reading?: We score it 4.8 out of 10 for the time it takes — a hard sell for the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.55 out of 5 from 489 ratings, which counts for 4.9; at about 7½ hrs at an average pace it gives back 0.1 for its length.
How long is the Madame Bovary audiobook?: About 13 hrs, estimated from the 116,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

From the publisher

Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" is the classic tale of its title character, Emma Bovary, the second wife of Charles Bovary, a well meaning yet plodding and clumsy doctor. Emma is an educated young woman who longs for the luxury and romance that she reads about in the popular novels of the day.…

When the two attend an elegant ball given by the Marquis d'Andervilliers, her longing for something more than the dullness provided by her own marriage can no longer be contained. In order to escape the banalities and emptiness of her everyday life a series of adulterous affairs ensue. "Madame Bovary" is considered by many as one of the greatest novels ever written. Although it was attacked for obscenity when it first appeared in Paris in 1856, "Madame Bovary" became an instant success for the author. Flaubert's quest for literary perfection is greatly exemplified in the craft of this work, which has been heralded as a seminal work of literary realism. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper, follows the translation of Eleanor Marx-Aveling, and includes an introduction by Ferdinand Brunetière.

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