Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
The first volume of Beauvoir's memoirs, from a bourgeois Catholic childhood in Paris to intellectual independence at the Sorbonne.
Read our takeThe Prime of Life
Simone de Beauvoir
The Prime of Life
The second memoir volume, covering Beauvoir's life with Jean-Paul Sartre, teaching, travel, first books, and the German occupation of France.
- 1960
- Atmospheric
- Wry
- autobiographical
- intimate
- voice-driven
About Simone de Beauvoir
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeBeauvoir follows her life from the freedom of her early teaching years through the Second World War. She describes her partnership with Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher and writer, as well as other relationships, travel, political learning, and the long effort to become a published writer.
The story, in more detail
The book begins after Beauvoir and Sartre pass the philosophy examination in 1929. Teaching posts separate them geographically, but they build a partnership around work, travel, and negotiated independence rather than marriage or a shared household.
The later chapters cover the approach of war, mobilization, defeat, occupation, and the altered moral weight of private choices. Beauvoir writes with access to diaries and letters, yet arranges them into a retrospective account whose judgments should be distinguished from a daily record.
The life covered
The first years include teaching in Marseille and Rouen, mountain walks, travel, friendships, and the disciplined routines behind Beauvoir's first fiction.
Paris years bring a larger intellectual circle and relationships whose unequal effects have become an important part of later scholarship on Beauvoir and Sartre.
War and occupation change the scale of the narrative as public events enter decisions that had once seemed primarily personal.
Why we recommend it
Why it matters
It shows how Beauvoir built a writing life before she became a public intellectual.
Where it fits
Read it after Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter; the two volumes form one continuous account from childhood through liberation-era publication.
What this book explores
Timeline
1960
Gallimard publishes La Force de l'âge in Paris.
English editions
Translations publish the work under the title The Prime of Life; dates and wording vary by edition.
Book editions
Paperback
- Paperback
- Gallimard
- 1960
Reader reviews
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Force of Circumstance
Simone de Beauvoir
Force of Circumstance
The third memoir volume, covering postwar fame, political conflict, travel, The Second Sex, and the Algerian War.
Read our takeThe Prime of Life: frequently asked questions
What is The Prime of Life by Simone de Beauvoir about?
Beauvoir follows her life from the freedom of her early teaching years through the Second World War. She describes her partnership with Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher and writer, as well as other relationships, travel, political learning, and the long effort to become a published writer.
When was The Prime of Life published?
Gallimard first published La Force de l'âge in French in 1960.
Should I read The Prime of Life first?
Usually not. Start with The Second Sex for Beauvoir's major argument, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter for her life, or The Mandarins for a novel, then return to The Prime of Life.