Gemma Bovery
Gemma Bovery (ISBN 0-2240-6114-3) is a graphic novel written by Posy Simmonds. Originally published as a serial in The Guardian, it was published in book form in 1999. It is the tragicomic story of the life and death of an English expatriate in Normandy, drawing many parallels to Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
Plot summary
The story opens with Raymond Joubert, a baker in the (fictional) Bailleville, near Rouen in Normandy, reflecting on the recent death of Gemma Bovery, an English woman who lived in the village. Joubert blames himself for her death. During a visit to Gemma's widower Charlie, Joubert discovers that Gemma kept a journal, which Charlie has not had the heart to read. Anxious about what the journal may reveal, Joubert steals several of the most recent volumes.
Using the journal and personal recollection, Joubert tells the story of Gemma's final few months:
Magazine illustrator Gemma Tate has just been dumped by her supercilious lover Patrick Large and is taken in by kindly but impoverished furniture restorer Charlie Bovery, whom she soon marries. Depressed by London life and infuriated by the demands made by Charlie's shrewish ex-wife Judi, Gemma persuades Charlie to sell up and move to Bailleville in Normandy.
Gemma
Gemma is a female name of Italian origin, meaning "precious stone." Its popularity peaked in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. It was the third most popular female name in 1984 in the UK.
Notable people with the name Gemma include:
Gemma (organization)
GEMMA is a magazine and a social group founded in 1976 whose mandate is to provide a "friendship and support group for disabled lesbians in England."
The organization was founded by members of lesbian organization Sappho and mixed organization Campaign for Homosexual Equality, including Elsa Beckett. Gemma's member newsletter was published in regular print, in braille as well as cassette format.
In her essay Unearthing Our Past: Engaging with Diversity at the Museum of London, Raminder Kaur describes a leaflet promoting the activities of Gemma, which is a part of the Museum of London collection, as "crucial to exploring the theme of multiple identities or difference within difference".
See also
References
Alpha Coronae Borealis
Alpha Coronae Borealis (α CrB, α Coronae Borealis, Alphecca) is a binary star in the constellation Corona Borealis. It is located about 75 light years from the Solar System.
Properties
The primary component is a white main sequence star that has a stellar classification of A0V and 2.6 times the mass of the Sun. Estimates of the star's radius range from 2.89 to 3.04 times the radius of the Sun. An excess of infrared radiation at 24 μm and 70 μm has been detected about the primary star by the IRAS. This suggests the presence of a large disc of dust and material around Alphecca, prompting speculation of a planetary or proto-planetary system similar to that currently assumed around Vega. The disk extends out to a radius of around 60 astronomical units (AU).
The secondary component is a yellow main sequence star with an estimated stellar class of G5, 0.92 times the Sun's mass and 0.90 times the Sun's radius. The X-ray luminosity of this star is 6 × 1028erg s−1, which is 30 times greater than the peak activity level of the Sun. This higher activity level is expected for a young star of this class. The corona has a temperature of about 5 MK, which is much hotter than the Sun's corona. The upper limit of 14 km/s for the equatorial rotation velocity is equivalent to a rotation period of 3 days. More likely, the rotation period is 7–9 days.
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