This book offers crucial perspectives on the vexed question of chronology in Flaubert's work. Critics have struggled long and hard with the apparent inconsistencies in his writing, but Claire Addison's study reveals that the situation is far more subtle, complex and intriguing than hitherto supposed. She argues that Flaubert's manipulation of dates is deliberate and that what have previously been dismissed as inadvertent errors are in fact evidence of the strong presence of Flaubert's family life, events in historical Europe and events in the life of his literary characters. This interesting reading goes far beyond what traditional methods of literary history allow us to perceive of the link between the life and work of the author.