The Inseparables
The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir is a newly published novel from Vintage, released in 2021. This edition, available in English for the first time, presents a compelling narrative about the intense friendship between two girls, Sylvie and Andree, as they navigate their formative years. The story explores themes of identity and connection, revealing the complexities of their bond against the backdrop of their discussions on equality, justice, and personal struggles.
Readers will find a rich exploration of friendship and the inevitable changes that come with growing up. The narrative delves into the unique dynamics between the characters, particularly focusing on Andree’s confidence despite her physical scars and Sylvie’s admiration for her. This edition also includes an afterword by Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir, offering insights into the real-life friendship that inspired the story, along with photographs that enhance the narrative’s historical context. With 137 pages, this book invites readers to reflect on the nature of companionship and the challenges of adolescence.
Official synopsis Publisher
‘Life without her would be death’
The lost novel from the author of The Second Sex published in English for the first time.
The compulsive story of two friends growing up and falling apart.
INTRODUCED BY DEBORAH LEVY
When Andree joins her school, Sylvie is immediately fascinated. Andree is small for her age, but walks with the confidence of an adult. Under her red coat, she hides terrible burn scars. And when she imagines beautiful things, she gets goosebumps… Secretly Sylvie believes that Andree is a prodigy about whom books will be written.
The girls become close. They talk for hours about equality, justice, war and religion; they lose respect for their teachers; they build a world of their own. But they can’t stay like this forever.
Written in 1954, five years after The Second Sex, the novel was never published in Simone de Beauvoir’s lifetime. This first English edition includes an afterword by her adopted daughter, who discovered the manuscript hidden in a drawer, and photographs of the real-life friendship which inspired and tormented the author.
‘Gorgeously written, intelligent, passionate, and in many ways foreshadows such contemporary works as Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend’ Oprah Daily
TRANSLATED BY LAUREN ELKIN. WITH AN AFTERWORD FROM SYLVIE LE BON DE BEAUVOIR
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