Inseparable

A novel of an intense and vivid girlhood friendship from the award-winning French feminist and existentialist, unpublished in her lifetime.

Finalist for the French-American Florence Gould Translation PrizeIntroduction by Margaret Atwood

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.

“Beautifully translated . . . torturously delicious and consuming in the way doomed love stories often are. . . . Brief and exuberant, Inseparable amplifies the canon of a titan of twentieth century feminism and reveals her in an unexpectedly tender, unguarded mode.” —Harper''s Magazine