Madame Bovary and The Thirteenth Tale

I often read more than one thing at a time, meaning on my nightstand I will have a novel, a self-help book, and a magazine that I rotate through according to my mood that night. I will also be reading a novel to the kids, my scriptures, and something online at any given point. However, I don't think I've ever done what I did with Madame Bovary and The Thirteenth Tale. I began reading Madame Bovary and when I was about half-way through it, I put it down and started reading The Thirteenth Tale until I was done with it, then finished with Madame Bovary. I can think of a couple reasons for my doing this.
#1 - Madame Bovary is considered a classic by many and like many classics, it was written long ago and is somewhat difficult to get through. It was originally written in French and depending on the translation, can be a little confusing. So, switching to a modern novel written in today's language gave my brain a bit of a break for a while.
#2 - I made the switch when we went on vacation. I usually read novels that fulfill one of three purposes: they are children's books that I preview for my kids, they are historical fiction that I read to learn more about a period of history we are studying, or I consider the book to be challenging and read it so that I may strengthen my reading skills and continue to learn and grow. I don't generally read just for pleasure. But, some of my friends had read The Thirteenth Tale and recommended it and because I considered it a fluff book, I figured vacation was a good time to read it.
#3 - I considered the character of Madame Bovary to have an extremely negative and strong personality and I really needed a break from having her in my head. Every once in a while I will stop reading a book that I don't like, but I don't think I've ever come right back to finish it.
In many ways the two books were similar. Both stories have leading female characters who appear to be strong and untouchable. Madame Bovary is the wife of a country doctor in post-revolution France. She is not only in control of everything in her household, but also has control over every man she interacts with, or so it appears. The Thirteenth Tale's Miss Winter is the epitome of a rich spinster who is author to the most popular modern novels of her time. She too is mistress of her world, which includes anyone who has ever read her books. Both women are manipulative, abbrasive, and demanding. In the beginning of each book, the reader feels there is no situation these women could not handle.
However, as each page is turned, it starts to become evident that even these two giants have an achilles heel. For Madame Bovary, the desire for luxury beyond her means is her downfall. She possesses no values, no morals and in her quest for more, more things, more love, she dashes through two affairs and racks up endless promissary notes until she eventually takes her own life to escape the nightmare she has created. Miss Winter's demise is brought on more subtly as her weakness is itself more benign. The inability to face the truth about her life has created a demon inside her that is slowly killing the author until she decides to tell the world her story. Ironically, the moment she begins to unfold the history of her past, a new and more real illness begins to take her life, timed so perfectly that as she finishes her story, the illness finishes her.
In the end, Madame Bovary was a great lesson in why society fails when it's members have no morals and debt is considered a solution to life's problems. What is interesting to me is that this book was written so long ago, but our modern society still exhibits the same folly as years past.
The Thirteenth Tale turned out to be more than a fluff book as it has many words that I had not heard of before and I really enjoyed the mystery that it contained. Finally, I appreciate that even fictitous female characters who are worthy of having a whole book written about them do have weaknesses and it makes me think that maybe my own weaknesses are not that bad after all.