Skip to main content
Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath / Dublin City Council

Main navigation

  • Residential
  • Business
  • Your Council
Menu
Menu
Advanced Search

Main navigation (mobile)

  • Residential
  • Business
  • Your Council
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Libraries
  3. blog
Language switcher
  • English
  • Gaeilge

The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir

Back to blog

Published on 16th January 2023

Share
  • Share via Twitter
  • Share via Facebook
  • Share via WhatsApp
The Inseparablesby Simone de Beauvoir

Several acquaintances have confided in me that one of their New Year’s resolutions is to start reading again. When asked for any tips my advice is always the same: start with something short. In that vein, one of the books I have read since the beginning of the year is Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables, a novel supposedly considered “too intimate” to be published during the author’s life. 

The story follows the relationship between Andrée and Sylvie (stand-ins for de Beauvoir and her real-life friend Elisabeth “Zaza” Lacoin). The girls meet when Andrée joins Sylvie’s class and Sylvie is immediately taken with her classmate’s intelligence, intensity and self-possession. For example, de Beauvoir describes how Andrée speaks to the teachers in a way that is almost (but not quite) insolent. She seems to speak to them as an equal rather than as a student addressing a teacher.

The girls soon grow close and the novel traces their friendship over the next years. Without giving too much away, de Beauvoir seeks to show that while Sylvie and Andrée seem to be on similar trajectories, their lives are ultimately not their own. Religion and sex are far more determinative of their paths than their own choices. This is something de Beauvoir railed against in her philosophical work and as both a feminist and existentialist.

At 176 pages the book is short but it has plenty to say and some incredibly powerful scenes. It beautifully captures the feelings of close friendship as well as the devastation of loss. Finally, it vividly portrays the struggle of an individual caught between societal and familial expectations and her own desires. If you’re looking to get back into reading this January and don’t mind a story which deals with some weighty themes, look no further than The Inseparables.

Peadar, Cabra Library

Tags:
staff picks
Share
  • Share via Twitter
  • Share via Facebook
  • Share via WhatsApp
0 Comments

Add new comment

Genre

action-adventure
crime-thriller
fantasy
historical fiction
horror
mystery
romance
science fiction
war
western

Recommended Tags

archives
author spotlight
author visits
biographies
book awards
book clubs
books & reading
business & employment
children
children's books
Citizens in Conflict (series)
Comics
creative writing
Culture Night (podcasts)
digitised works
Dublin Remembers 1916
DVDs
eResources
events
family history
gilbert lecture (podcasts)
graphic novels
history (podcasts)
image galleries
Irish fiction
learning
libraries & archive news
local studies
music
non-fiction
photographic collections
podcasts
publications
reviews
staff picks
talking books
teens
text version
travel
videos
websites
work matters
Close

Main navigation

  • Residential
  • Business
  • Your Council

Footer menu

  • About Us
    • Careers
    • Who Does What
    • News and Media
    • Policies and Documents
  • Using dublincity.ie
    • Website Accessibility
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Sitemap
  • Statutory Obligations
    • Freedom of Information
    • Data Protection
    • Access to Information on the Environment
    • Protected Disclosures
    • Lobbying
    • Official Languages Act
    • Ethics
    • Public Sector Duty
    • Bye Laws
    • Sell to government
  • Get in Touch / Feedback
    • Contact Us
    • Make a Service Request
    • Make a Payment
    • Make a Complaint
    • Public Consultations

Customer Services Centre

Address

Civic Offices
Wood Quay
Dublin 8
D08 RF3F
Ireland

Telephone Number
01 222 2222
Email Address
[email protected]

Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath / Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council
Visit our other sites

© 2023 Dublin City Council

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.