Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter

The first volume of Beauvoir's autobiography, covering her childhood and youth in a respectable Parisian middle-class family. She describes a strict Catholic upbringing, a close early friendship, her love of books and her growing doubts about the life expected of her. Her student years bring intellectual excitement and the wish for independence. The book is an honest, vivid account of how a young woman found her own mind, and it gives context for the ideas of her later work.