Inseparable: A Never-Before-Published Novel - Hardcover

Beauvoir, Simone De

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0063075040 ISBN 13: 9780063075047

Publisher: Ecco, 2021

Synopsis

Finalist for the French-American Florence Gould Translation Prize

A novel by the iconic Simone de Beauvoir of an intense and vivid girlhood friendship that, unpublished in her lifetime, displays “Beauvoir''s genius as a fiction writer” (Wall Street Journal) 

From the moment Sylvie and Andrée meet in their Parisian day school, they see in each other an accomplice with whom to confront the mysteries of girlhood. For the next ten years, the two are the closest of friends and confidantes as they explore life in a post-World War One France, and as Andrée becomes increasingly reckless and rebellious, edging closer to peril.

Sylvie, insightful and observant, sees a France of clashing ideals and religious hypocrisy—and at an early age is determined to form her own opinions. Andrée, a tempestuous dreamer, is inclined to melodrama and romance. Despite their different natures they rely on each other to safeguard their secrets while entering adulthood in a world that did not pay much attention to the wills and desires of young women.

Deemed too intimate to publish during Simone de Beauvoir’s life, Inseparable offers fresh insight into the groundbreaking feminist’s own coming-of-age; her transformative, tragic friendship with her childhood friend Zaza Lacoin; and how her youthful relationships shaped her philosophy. Sandra Smith’s vibrant translation of the novel will be long cherished by de Beauvoir devotees and first-time readers alike.

About this title

About the Authors

French Existentialist philosopher, novelist, essayist, editor, and groundbreaking feminist Simone De Beauvoir was born in Paris, where she lived most of her life. She was the author of the feminist classic The Second Sex, several volumes of autobiography, and highly acclaimed novels, including The Mandarins, winner of the Prix Goncourt.

Sandra Smith has published over thirty translations, includingSuite Franaise(IrneNmirovsky),ButYouDidNotComeBack(Marceline Loridan-Ivens),TheNecklace and Other Stories: Maupassant for Modern Times,The Stranger(Albert Camus),Jacques Schiffrin: A Publisher in Exile(Amos Reichman),Create Dangerously(Albert Camus), among others. She has won the French-American-FlorenceGould Foundation Translation Prize, the PEN Translation Prize, theIndependent British Booksellers Book of the Year Prize and the National Jewish BookAward.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ecco
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0063075040
• ISBN 13: 9780063075047
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 157