A Simple Soul is the poignant story of Félicité, a humble servant woman in nineteenth-century Normandy who dedicates her entire life to others. Abandoned by her first love, she enters the service of Madame Aubain, where she pours her boundless capacity for love into the family's children, her nephew Victor, and finally a parrot named Loulou. One by one, death claims everyone she cherishes, yet her gentle faith endures. In old age and deafness, her world narrows to her beloved parrot, whom she comes to associate with the Holy Spirit. Flaubert's masterpiece quietly celebrates a simple heart's extraordinary devotion and grace.
