Four days later, I received a note from Madame Mabille: Zaza was gravely ill; she had a high temperature and frightful pains in the head. The doctor had had her moved to a clinic at Saint-Cloud; she needed absolute quiet and solitude; she was not allowed to receive any visits: if her temperature did not come down, there was no hope for her.
I went to see Pradelle. He told me all he knew. The day after my meeting with Zaza, Madame Pradelle had been alone in the flat when there came a ring at the bell; she opened the door, and found a well-dressed young lady standing there, but who wasn’t wearing a hat: in those days, this was ‘not done’. ‘Are you Jean Pradelle’s mother?’ the young woman asked. ‘May I speak to you?’ She introduced herself and Madame Pradelle asked her to come in. Zaza stared all round her; her face was white as chalk, except for the cheeks which had patches of bright red on them. ‘Isn’t Jean here?’ she asked. ‘Why isn’t he here? Has he gone to heaven already?’ Madame Pradelle, who was frightened out of her wits, told her that he would be back soon. ‘Do you hate me, Madame?’ Zaza had asked. The old lady said of course not. ‘Then why do you not want us to get married?’ Madame Pradelle did her best to calm her down; she was in a less confused state when Pradelle came in a little later, but her forehead and hands were burning. ‘I’m going to take you home,’ he told her. They took a taxi and while they were on the way to the rue de Berri, she asked him reproachfully: ‘Won’t you give me a kiss? Why have you never kissed me?’ He kissed her.
Madame Mabille put her to bed and called the doctor; she had a long talk with Pradelle: she didn’t want to be the cause of her daughter’s unhappiness, and she was not opposed to their marriage. Madame Pradelle wasn’t against it either; she too didn’t want to cause anyone unhappiness. It would all be arranged. But Zaza had a temperature of 104° and was delirious.
During the next four days in the clinic at Saint-Cloud she kept calling out for ‘my violin, Pradelle, Simone, champagne’. The fever did not abate. Her mother had the right to spend the final night with her. Zaza recognized her and knew then that she was going to the. ‘Don’t cry for me, Mama darling,’ she said. ‘There are outcasts in all families; I’m the outcast in ours.’
When next I saw her, in the chapel at the clinic, she was laid on a bier surrounded by candles and flowers. She was wearing a long nightdress of rough cloth. Her hair had grown, and now hung stiffly round a yellow face that was so thin, I hardly recognized her. The hands with their long, pale fingernails were folded on the crucifix, and seemed as fragile as an ancient mummy’s. Madame Mabille was sobbing. ‘We have only been instruments in God’s hands,’ Monsieur Mabille told her.
The doctors called it meningitis, encephalitis; no one was quite sure. Had it been a contagious disease, or an accident? Or had Zaza succumbed to exhaustion and anxiety? She has often appeared to me at night, her face all yellow under a pink sun-bonnet, and seeming to gaze reproachfully at me. We had fought together against the revolting fate that had lain ahead of us, and for a long time I believed that I had paid for my own freedom with her death.
INDEX
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Action Française, L’ 35, 132, 257, 275, 327
Alain, 238, 239, 260, 292, 310
Alcott, Louisa M., 89–91, 104–5, 140, 209
Alix, Roland, 342
Andersen, Hans, 51
Aquinas, 234
Aragon, 234
Aristotle, 234, 337
Arland, Marcel, 187, 196, 228
Arlen, Michael, 325
Aron, Raymond, 275, 339, 344
Aulnoy, Mme d’, 51
Avdicovitch, Stépha, 278–82, 284–9, 292–300, 301–6, 308, 313, 322, 332, 356
Ballet, 243, 304
Balzac, 197, 224
Bandi, 299, 300
Barbette, 309
Barrés, 186, 192, 194, 230, 231, 311
Baruzi, Jean, 262, 264, 305, 340
Baruzi, Joseph, 264
Bataille, 109, 144
Baty, 298
Beaudin, Abbé, 247
Beauvoir grandparents, 23–4, 31–2, 41, 80, 81, 103, 317, 319–20, 326
Beauvoir, Françoise de, passim
Beauvoir, Gaston de, 25, 31, 32, 103, 190, 205, 213–16
Beauvoir, Georges de, passim
Beauvoir, Jeanne de, 23, 97, 98, 99, 175, 178, 205, 216
Beauvoir, Marguerite de, 13, 25, 38–9, 41, 79, 89, 162, 205, 207, 215
Beauvoir, Poupette de, passim
Beauvoir, Simone de: fear of death, 48–9, 64, 137–8, 231; diary, 188, 207, 242, 257, 288; views on marriage, 144–6; pacifism, 238; patriotism, 26–8; religion. 9, 29–30, 41, 57–8, 73–5, 88–9, 125–6, 132, 133–9, 171, 228–9, 247, 253–4, 261; knowledge of sex, 19, 38–40, 82–8, 100–1, 109–11, 161–7, 171; early writings, 52–3, 140–2, 191–2, 208, 211, 241–2, 252, 258, 263, 264
Bécassine, 51
Benda, Julien, 247
Bergson, Henri, 207–8, 234
Bernard, Tristan, 109
Bernstein, 109
Bibliothèque Cardinale, 70
Bibliothèque Nationale, 283, 304
Blanchard, 172
Block, Jean-Richard, 228
Boigue, Suzanne, 224, 225, 235–6, 247, 251, 260, 274, 288, 305, 309, 332
Boissier, Gaston, 147
Boncour, Paul, 237
Bourget, 32, 109
Bouteron, Marcel, 177
Boyer, Charles, 172
Braque, 202
Bréhier, 304–5
Bresson, Riquet, 268–70, 291–3, 315, 346
Bréville, Geneviève de, 254–5, 257–8, 355
Brunetière, 155
Brunschvig, 230, 234, 266, 304, 310, 311, 344
Caillaux, 65
Callavet, 35, 109
Candide, 237
Capus, 35, 109
Cauterets, 205
Cervantes, 304
Cézanne, 298, 309
Chadourne, Marc, Vasco, 263
Chantepleure, Guy, 89
Chaplin, Charles, 53, 241, 264
Châteauvillain, 146, 185
Chekhov, 304
Chevalier, Maurice, 264
Ciné-Latin, 241, 287
Cinema, 53–4, 241, 287–8, 304
Clair, René, 202
Clairaut, Pierre, 275, 281, 286–92, 297, 305, 309–12, 318–22, 327–9
Claudel, 186, 194, 195, 240, 246, 253, 290
Cocteau, Jean, 185–6, 202, 203, 243, 309, 310, 321–2
Colette, 109, 155, 176
Collège Stanislas, 32, 121, 177, 199
Colline, 160
Combes, Émile, 35
Comèdia, 35
Cooper, Fennimore, 81
Copeau, 172
Coppée, François, 178
Corneille, 112
Cours Désir (Institut Adeline Désir), 21–2, 28–9, 42, 59, 67–8, 70, 93, 95, 99, 106, 112, 116, 122, 123–4, 150–1, 155, 161, 184, 251, 263
Cours Valton, 199
Damia, 243, 320
Daniélou, Jean, 327
Daniélou, Mme, 168, 223
Daudet, Alphonse, 32, 109, 172
Daudet, Léon, 35, 257
Daumal, René, 262
Démocratie Nouvęlle, La, 132
Descartes, 223
Dickens, Charles, 130–1, 172
Divonne-les-Bains, 25, 34–5
Dostoyevsky, 195
Dreyfus, 35, 178
Du Bos, Charles, 321
Du Moulins de Labarthète family, 256–7, 278, 282
Dulac, Germaine, 304
Dullin, Charles, 172, 202, 203, 241, 298
Dumas, Georges, 261–2
Duncan, Isadora, 319
École des Chartes, 159
École Normale, 245–6, 262, 287, 309, 335
Eliot, George, 110–11, 140, 209, 323
Équipes Sociales, 173, 2
24–5
Esprit, L’ 236
Europe, 237
Faguet, 155
Fairbanks, Douglas, 288
Fargue, 266
Farrère, 109
Fayet, Mile, 21, 22, 68
Fernandez, Ramon, 196
Fernando, 285, 289, 292, 295, 297–9, 306, 308, 332
Flers, 35,109
Fleuriot, Zénaïde, 50, 55
Foch, Marshal, 71
Foggezzaro, Daniel Corthis, 143
Fort, Paul, Charles VI, 152–3
Fouillée, The Power of Ideas, 157
Foujita, 214
Fournier, Alain, 185, 186, 196, 201, 221, 222, 225, 234, 252, 263, 289, 294, 323, 339
France, Anatole, 107, 135, 189, 195
Friedmann, 236, 237
Fumet, Stanislas, 195
Funck-Brentano, 128
Gabriello, 35
Gantillon, Départs, 298
Garric, Robert, 168, 173, 179–81, 183, 184–5, 197, 198, 200, 204–6, 208, 210, 224, 225, 227, 327, 344
Gaulois, Le, 98
Gégé, 306–7, 314–15, 320
Gendron, Anne-Marie, 123, 148
Gendron, Clotilde, 148, 149, 156
Germaine, Aunt, 146, 166, 199, 201, 213, 215, 268–9, 269, 288, 348
Gide, André, 183, 186, 190, 194, 195–6, 217, 230, 244, 281, 292, 308
Giraudoux, 187, 292, 302
Gobineau, 36, 130
Goethe, 205, 304, 308
Goncourt brothers, 109, 155
Gontran, Mlle, 65, 124, 150, 229
Grand Jeu, Le, 262
Greek, 178, 240, 245
Grimm brothers, 51
Guéhenno, 327
Guérin, Eugénie de, 142
Guitry, Sacha, 35, 109
Hamelin, 234
Hegel, 230
Heine, 232
Hélène, Aunt, 24, 26, 31, 67, 77, 78, 85, 86–7, 164, 267
Helm, Brigitte, 287
Herbaud, André, 310–15, 318, 319–25, 328, 329, 331, 332, 334–40, 345
Hippolyte, Jean, 295
Hugo, Victor, 36, 106–7, 122, 197, 224
Humanité, 239
Hume, 305, 310
Hylton, Jack, 336
Ibsen, Henrik, 172
Institut Catholique, 168, 173, 186
Institut Sainte-Marie, 173, 179, 204, 235, 259, 262
Ivoi, Paul d’, 51
Jacob, Max, 202, 226
Jammes, Francis, 186, 202, 225, 245, 258, 290
Jarry, Ubu-Roi, 246
Jolson, Al, 304
Jouvet, 172, 241, 277
Joyce, James, 266
Kant, 207, 217, 223, 257, 305, 310, 314, 321
Keaton, Buster, 288, 337
La Grillière, 23–4, 25–6, 59–60, 67, 76–80, 85, 126, 129, 164, 207, 267
La Rochefoucauld, 112
Laforgue, 202, 232, 258
Lagache, Daniel, 275
Lagneau, 242
Lahr, Père, 157
Laiguillon, Ernest, 199
Laiguillon, Germaine. See Germaine, Aunt
Laiguillon, Jacques, 60–1, 121, 147–349 passim.
Laiguillon, Titite, 60, 121, 146–7, 163, 199, 201, 203, 215, 277, 348
Lalande, 322, 329
Lambert, Mlle, 168, 173, 183, 185, 204, 222–4, 226, 228, 229, 245, 247, 251, 259–62, 267–8, 288, 332
Lanson, Histoire de la littérature française, 36
Laporte, 296, 304–5
Larbaud, 187
Latin, 179, 204
Laubardon, 167, 254–9, 276
Laurie, André, 51, 113
Law, 168
Layton and Johnstone, 314, 336
Lebon, Gustave, 157
Lefebvre, Henri, 236
Lehmann, Rosamund, Dusty Answer, 357
Leibniz, 235, 266, 268, 270, 279, 334—5, 336
Lejeune, Mlle, 122–4, 150, 154, 159, 163, 168
Lemaître, Jules, 155
Lenôtre, 128
Lévi-Strauss, 294
Lili, Aunt, 9–11,13, 37, 52, 63, 64, 84, 89, 102
Louise, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11–13, 15, 16, 18–19, 21, 25, 29, 30, 37, 42, 63, 64, 84, 97, 131
Lourdes, 206–7
Ludwig, Emil, 308
Mabille, Elizabeth, 91–360 passim
Mabille, Guite, 92–3, 114–17, 120, 145, 152, 161–2, 222, 240, 249–50, 254–7, 260, 276–7, 284, 287, 289, 301–3, 330, 332–4, 353, 357, 358, 359, 360
Mabille, Lili, 115, 116, 149, 163, 222, 255–7, 278–9, 303, 304, 309, 332, 333–4, 353
Mabille, Monsieur, 92, 114–17, 133, 145, 150, 168, 204, 221, 256, 360
Mabille, Thćrèse, 167–8, 173, 182, 197
Madeleine (cousin), 24, 60, 78–9, 85–7, 89, 90, 99, 101, 109, 129, 162, 164–6, 271, 317
Madelin, 128
Magda, 268, 316, 346
Mallarmé, 121, 202
Mallet, Jean, 238, 243–4, 260, 288, 292, 299, 305, 311, 320
Malot, Hector, Sans Famille, 51, 130–1
Malraux, André, 223
Malvy, 65
Manet, 309
Marcel, Gabriel, 321
Marguerite, Victor, 178
Maritain, 234
Martin, Abbé, 29, 58, 73, 88, 134–5
Marx, 230
Massis, 204
Mathematics, 150, 160, 168, 173, 178, 204
Matin, Le, 35
Matisse, 202
Maupassant, Guy de, 32, 109, 189
Maurey, Max, Le Pharmacien, 107
Mauriac, 187, 219, 230, 240, 254, 290, 309
Maurice, Uncle, 24, 66–7, 78, 85,164
Maurras, Charles, 35, 184, 257, 288, 298
Maxence, 327
Meredith, George, 294
Merleau-Ponty, 294
Meulan, 148
Meyrignac, 24, 25–6, 32, 79–82, 103, 124–6, 206–8, 216, 251, 317, 319, 345
Miller, Hans, 302, 303
Mirande, 190
Mohrange, 236
Monet, 309
Monnier, Adrienne, 186, 222, 266
Montaigne, 120
Montalembert, 258
Montherlant, 186
Morlay, Gaby, 172
Musset, Alfred de, 109
Nietzsche, 284
Nizan, 290, 309–12, 321, 325, 328, 331, 334–9, 344
Noailles, Mme de, 231
Nodier, Pierre, 236, 237, 344
Noël-Noël, 160–1
Nouvelles Littéraires, Les, 290, 342
Nouvelle Revue Française, 196, 228, 229, 290, 321
Ollé-Laprune, Moral Certainty, 157
Painting, 241, 309
Péguy, 183, 196
Perrault, Charles, 50–1
Petite Illustration, La, 109
Philosophy, 157–60, 222–3, 234, 242, 244–6, 304–6
Picasso, 202
Pitoëff, 172, 241
Plato, 234
Podrecca, 299
Poincaré, Henri, 158, 196
Politics, 129–30, 133, 236–9
Politzer, 236, 237, 339, 344
Pradelle, Jean, 245–359 passim.
Pradelle, Mme, 359
Prévost, Jean, 196, 266
Prévost, Marcel, 32, 109
Prokofieff, 243
Proust, 187, 190, 246, 281
Quermadec, Lisa, 262–3, 275, 285, 287, 292, 296–7, 306, 308, 320, 321, 326–7, 328
Racine, 112
Radiguet, 187, 258
Rether, Antoine, 166
Renan, 35
Renoir, 309
Revue des Deux Mondes, 258
Revue des Jeunes, 183
Riaucourt, Lucien, 103, 234, 268, 293, 315
Riaucourt, Odile, 346, 348
Ribot, Attention, 157
Riesmann, Michel, 244–5, 246, 251, 260, 264, 288, 314, 332, 340
Rigadin, 25
Rivière, Jacques, 202, 222, 263, 339
Robert (cousin), 24, 78, 79, 164, 165
Rodrigues, 294
Rolland, Romain,
238
Romains, Jules, 290
Rostand, Edmond, 35, 36, 71, 109, 121
Roulin, Abbé, 139–40
Rousseau, 335
Sacco and Vanzetti, 238
Sangnier, Marc, 132
Sanson, Father, 194–5
Sarment, Jean, 317
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 275, 309–12, 319, 321, 328, 331, 332, 334, 335–6, 337–45
Sauguet, 243
Schmid, Canon, 51, 54, 109
Schopenhauer, 231, 234
Ségur, Mme de, 19, 50, 55, 82, 105
Sertilanges, Père, Intellectual Life, 157
Sillon, Le, 133
Simon, Michel, 241
Simone, 176
Simone, Aunt, 163
Sirmione family, 15–17, 35
Sorel, Cécile, 71
Soupault, Philippe, 263
Soutine, 298
Spinoza, 223, 305, 343
Staël, Mme de, 298
Stendhal, 311, 314, 343, 358
Stravinsky, 243, 263
Strindberg, 304
Strowski, Fortunat, 173
Studio des Ursulines, 202, 241, 287
Studio 28, 287
Sudermann, 301
Swetchine, Mme, 148
Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, 60
Sylla, 311
Taine, 36
Tessier, Valentine, 314
Theatre, 33, 34–5, 53, 54, 71, 152–3, 160–1, 177, 241, 264, 271, 288
Théricourt, Marguerite de, 102–3, 148, 156, 163–4
Tinayre, Marcelle, 144, 183
Töpffer, 51
Trécourt, Abbé, 150, 153–4, 157, 158–9, 160, 174, 223
Tucker, Sophie, 335–6
Utrillo, 314
Vailland, 262
Valéry, Paul, 186, 194, 230
Vaulabelle, Two Restorations, 133, 229
Vautel, Clément, 35
Verhaeren, 245
Verne, Jules, 51
Veuillot, Louis, 116, 258
Vieux-Colombier, 241
Voltaire, 122
Weil, Simone, 239, 245
Weiss, Blanchette, 239–40, 244–5, 251, 265, 322
Wilson, Woodrow, 128
Yver, Colette, 104, 176
Zanta, Mlle, 160, 188
Zaza. See Mabille, Elizabeth
Zola, Émile, 107
Zweig, Stefan, 304
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
French Existentialist philosopher, novelist, essayist, editor, and groundbreaking feminist SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR was born in Paris, where she lived most of her life. She was the author of the feminist classic The Second Sex, several volumes of autobiography, and highly acclaimed novels, including The Mandarins, winner of the Prix Goncourt.
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CREDITS
Cover design by Mary Schuck