The Image of Her

One woman strives for perfection - it's an old story. This is Simone de Beauvoir's gripping version. Laurence lives what appears to be an ideal existence. Her life features all the trappings of 19 ...

One woman strives for perfection - it's an old story. This is Simone de Beauvoir's gripping version. Laurence lives what appears to be an ideal existence. Her life features all the trappings of 1960s Parisian bourgeoisie: money, a handsome husband, two daughters and a lover. She also has a successful career as an advertising copywriter, though her mind unbidden writes copy whilst she's at home, and dreams of domesticity in the office. But Laurence is a woman whose happiness was relegated long ago by the expectation of perfection. Relentlessly torn by the competing needs of her family, it is only when her 10-year-old daughter, Catherine, starts to vocalise her despair about the unfairness of the world that Laurence resists. TRANSLATED BY LAUREN ELKIN