Inseparable. By Simone de Beauvoir. Translated by Sandra Smith. Ecco; 176 pages; $26.99. Published in Britain as "The Inseparables". Translated by Lauren Elkin. Vintage Classics; £12.99 I N 1958, IN "Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter", Simone de Beauvoir recalled meeting Elisabeth Lacoin in 1917, when she was nine. On the first day of the school year, de Beauvoir found that "the seat next to mine was occupied by a new girl: she was small, dark, thin-faced, with short hair." Lacoin explained that she had been confined to her bed for a year after her dress caught fire and she suffered terrible burns. De Beauvoir was captivated by the story, and by her. "Nothing as important as that had ever happened to me," she later wrote. Lacoin "seemed to me a very finished person…everything she had to say was either interesting or amusing." The pair quickly became firm friends—dubbed "the two inseparables" by their teachers—as well as academic rivals. They would sneak into Lacoin's father's study, not to exchange "girlish confidences" but to talk about their reading and schoolwork, or lofty ideas such as the definition of love. They remained close until university. Though de Beauvoir's family had once belonged to… Read full this story
- 35 Classic Novels You Can Read for Free on Your Kindle
- Elizabeth Spencer, ‘Light in the Piazza’ author, dies at 98
- The best HBO series (January 2020)
- Don't dare belittle the Little Women! As critics gush over the seventh film version of the classic novel, LIBBY PURVES says today's sexually liberated young feminists can still take a leaf out of their book
- Poet and pioneer
- The St Petersburg vegans cooking up a revolution
- On the edge of madness: the terrors and genius of Alberto Giacometti
- My New Year's resolution? A divorce! Mothers who quit unhappy marriages in January reveal how Christmas drove them to leave their husbands - and one claims she's a better parent as a result
- How Kickstarter became one of the biggest powers in publishing
- More than a coming-out story: 10 books to read during Pride month
Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novella of friendship have 351 words, post on www.economist.com at September 18, 2021. This is cached page on Vietnam Colors. If you want remove this page, please contact us.