Simone de Beauvoir

By the world-famous writer and feminist Simone de Beauvoir, here are three moving stories which eloquently express her understanding of women and the crises they face in mid-life.

The Woman Destroyed

Emily McMeans

“When I was a child, when I was an adolescent, books saved me from despair: that convinced me that culture was the highest of values, and it is impossible for me to examine this conviction with an objective eye.”

“This sluggishness of the heart is called indulgence and wisdom: in fact it is death settling down within you. Not yet: not now.”

Many women have felt this way when a man does something for a woman’s benefit but is committed to deriving no pleasure from it. It is hard for women, in my view, to stomach kindness that doesn’t come from an enjoyment of being kind as is so often the case in our relationships with other women. Needless to say, this line will be used often by me.

“I ought to have been grateful for his kindness: but I was not. I was hurt by his indifference.”

I felt like for each of these stories I had lived their lives in such a brutally honest way. The third story was absolutely repulsive and dreadful and uncomfortably relatable as a story women would understand. 

Jenn Doan 

This book was insanely hard to read and equally an amazing read. From the stories to the style of writing - chefs kiss (but also extremely sad.) 

Rabia Sohail

I think I liked this book, it just really sent me into a spiral about my relationship. 