Backlisted

The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir


Listen Later

To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin, whose previous books include Flâneuse: Women Walk the City, Scaffolding and Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art. Best known as the author of The Second Sex, Beauvoir was also a prolific novelist. In The Image of Her—newly translated by Elkin after more than forty years— reads like a dispatch from the smooth surface of a life coming quietly undone. Laurence is a successful advertising executive with a picture-perfect Parisian existence—handsome husband, lover, chic flat, weekends in the country—but when her daughter starts asking difficult questions about injustice, that surface begins to crack.
We trace the novel’s shifting reception—from period piece to prescient critique—and consider Beauvoir’s voice as a novelist: ironic, exacting, and unexpectedly funny.

* To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.

* For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm

*If you'd like to support the show and join in with the book chat, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes and exclusive writing, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted

*You can sign up to our free monthly newsletter here 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

BacklistedBy Backlisted

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

547 ratings


More shows like Backlisted

View all
The Penguin Podcast by Penguin Books UK

The Penguin Podcast

148 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

295 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

501 Listeners

World Book Club by BBC World Service

World Book Club

365 Listeners

Books and Authors by BBC Radio 4

Books and Authors

365 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

292 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

236 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

124 Listeners

The TLS Podcast by The TLS

The TLS Podcast

186 Listeners

The Shakespeare and Company Interview by Shakespeare and Company

The Shakespeare and Company Interview

90 Listeners

The Book Club by The Spectator

The Book Club

85 Listeners

The Waterstones Podcast by Waterstones

The Waterstones Podcast

35 Listeners

Shedunnit by Caroline Crampton

Shedunnit

690 Listeners

Close Readings by London Review of Books

Close Readings

55 Listeners

A Good Read by BBC Radio 4

A Good Read

13 Listeners