Simone de Beauvoir by Deirdre Bair: book review

Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography (1991), a large tome, is the definitive biography of French author, philosopher, novelist and feminist, Simone de Beauvoir. Bair had access to Beauvoir’s time and co-operation during the last six years before her death in 1986 at the age of 78. Hence, there is nothing left unanswered; all is revealed in a frank expose of her life, politics, work ethic, and relationships.

Beauvoir, the author of the landmark 1949 feminist work, The Second Sex, provides Bair with extraordinary insights into the embryonic beginnings of all her literary works, their developments, the public’s response and her response to public opinion. It also details her relationship with fellow novelist and existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre, whom she met at the Sorbonne in 1929 and remained with for life. It tells of their brief relationships with other writers such as Albert Camus and Arthur Koestler, both whom she weaved into her novel The Mandarins in 1954.

Other relationships emerge as critical in Beauvoir’s life: her mother, her sister, her adopted daughter, and other younger women; all of whom shaped her earlier thoughts and philosophies. Considering herself old at forty-four, writing on ageing as cathartic therapy, she surrounds herself with youthful artists and lovers, including Claude Lanzmann and Nelson Algren. However, it is Sartre that has the greatest influence on her life, and she on his. It becomes clear that their relationship was intricately and inexplicably entwined: philosophically, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Working side by side, they were each other’s competitor, collaborator and inspiration.

This is an interesting and challenging read for all lovers of Simone de Beauvoir or Jean-Paul Sartre and their literary works.

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