Beauvoir's first published novel, set in Paris on the eve of the Second World War. Françoise and Pierre are a devoted couple in the theatre world, who believe their bond leaves room for freedom. When they take a young, impulsive woman, Xavière, into their lives, the arrangement becomes a tense triangle of jealousy, desire and mutual judgement. The novel explores how people see and are seen by others, and how hard it is to share a life without possessing it. It is a striking early work of existentialist fiction.