First published in 1877, these three stories are dominated by questions of doubt, love, loneliness, and religious experience?together they confirm Flaubert as a master of the short story. ?A Simple Heart? relates the story of F?licit?, an uneducated serving-woman who retains her Catholic faith despite a life of desolation and loss. ?The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator, ? inspired by a stained-glass window in Rouen cathedral, describes the fate of a sadistic hunter destined to murder his own parents. The blend of faith and cruelty that dominates this story may also be found in ?Herodias, ? a reworking of the tale of Salome and John the Baptis