She lives a perfect life – so what is this turmoil Laurence feels? Weekends in the countryside, weekdays in Paris – Laurence's life has all the characteristics of the French bourgeoisie of the 1960s. She has money, a handsome husband, two daughters, and a lover. She also has a successful career as an advertising creator, although her mind writes texts while at home and dreams of domestic life at the office. A life that has constantly tried to meet the expectations of others. But when her 10-year-old daughter, Catherine, begins to express her anxiety about the world's injustice, Laurence must finally confront a life that values image over truth. Sparse yet powerful, this is a classic story of womanhood and its oppressors, parents and children, and the search for personal truth – from the iconic feminist Simone de Beauvoir.

Translation: Lauren Elkin

Glorious reviews for The Inseparables: ‘Passionate and tragic’ Vanity Fair ‘A marvelous work of art’ Financial Times ‘Sparse, elegant, painfully sad, and unpretentiously beautiful in its depiction of the closeness between girls – and the pressures that separate them’ Spectator ‘In Lauren Elkin's excellent translation, the clear, staged writing can burst into flashes of introspective sensitivity... Beauvoir could write like a responsible daughter of the French classics’ The Times

Pages: 208, Dimensions: 13.6x13.6cm