Scarlet And Black

I suddenly thought about this book yesterday, for the first time in years. I bought it and read it in 1975 when I was a student. I had a boyfriend who was studying French and he said it was essential reading. I remember nothing about it - and I cannot find it on my bookshelf now. I recall that it is set in France, two hundred years ago, and that's all. And it is not as good as Madame Bovary  But that's all I remember, other than the title.What brought it to mind was what happened yesterday afternoon;

Cycling home from Lunch Club at church, I noticed some brambles growing alongside the cycle path. 
I stopped and picked blackberries for 10 minutes. When I got home, I remembered there were a few blackcurrants on the bush in the garden. I took the berries in, and came outside with another bowl to pick the currants. 

There was a loud noise, and suddenly overhead, I saw the Red  Arrows, circling in the sky above, clearly practising for the Bournemouth Air Show this weekend. It is always so exciting to see them. I wasn't prepared for taking a photo, and I am no good at shooting planes anyway [I once attempted to take pictures of the Red Bull Display in Budapest and ended up with lots of shots of clear blue sky!]
But the bright scarlet colours of the planes contrasted with the juicy black fruit in my bowl - and I remembered that neglected volume.

I hope to read Madame Bovary again sometime. My attempts to pare down the shelves and rid myself of volumes not worth keeping are going very slowly. I have that terrible Hoarders' Habit of "I must just check it through before I let it go". Someone recently sent me this cartoon as a warning!