The Mandarins

In her most famous novel, <em>The Mandarins</em>, Simone de Beauvoir takes an unflinching look at Parisian intellectual society at the end of World War II. In fictionally relating the stories of those around her — Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler, Nelson Algren — de Beauvoir dissects the emotional and philosophical currents of her time. At once an engrossing drama and an intriguing political tale, <em>The Mandarins</em> is the emotional odyssey of a woman torn between her inner desires and her public life. "Much more than a roman <em>a</em> clef . . . a moving and engrossing novel." — <em>New York Times</em>