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Summary
When her mother was in the hospital with terminal cancer, Simone had time to reminisce about her mother’s early life, as Simone and her sister, Poupette, prepared to face the decision of whether to prolong a life when it is full of suffering. Like most people, they believed that it would be better to die than to continue to suffer, but their mother had a very different view of the matter. Françoise de Beauvoir had finally found happiness in her life, and she truly believed she could find happiness in her own suffering.
Considered by many to be the master work by Simone de Beauvoir, A Very Easy Death focuses on death and the other limitations in one’s life and with what attitude one approaches them. Through her mother’s beauty, her smile, and her pride in her life and in herself, Simone learned that to be human and to have individual choice are the most important aspects of existence.
© 1965 by Editions Gallimard. Translation copyright © 1965 by Andre Deutsch, Ltd., George Weidenfeld and Nicolson, Ltd., and G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Review Quotes
“Shows the power of compassion when it is allied with acute intelligence. This is a fine book.”
Sunday Telegraph (London)
“Hillary Huber offers a respectful narration of the intimate story…[Her] matter-of-fact performance retains a nuance of sensitivity in exactly the right measure.”
AudioFile
“Simone de Beauvoir’s dusty answer is depressingly effective.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Huber’s portrayal of a vital, intelligent woman in her prime and a frail one at the end of her life is a sensitive masterpiece that subtly captures de Beauvoir’s inner conflicts and her mother’s pain, spirit and dignity.”
Kliatt
Reader Bio:
Hillary Huber, a Los Angeles–based voice talent with hundreds of commercials and promos under her belt, was bitten by the audiobook bug in 2005. She now records books on a regular basis and has been nominated for several Audie Awards. Her recordings for Blackstone include Skinny Bastard, The Art of Social War, and The Cheater.
