Archive · 4 Oct 2026
Simone de Beauvoir’s Memoir Confronts Her Mother’s Death
In this memoir, Simone de Beauvoir writes about her mother, Françoise, becoming very ill.
Françoise falls and breaks a bone, and doctors later find a cancerous tumour.
Beauvoir spends time with her mother in the hospital and sees how much care she needs.
She also thinks about her mother’s younger years and the ways they were alike and different.
Their relationship was loving but sometimes difficult.
Françoise becomes afraid of dying as her illness worsens.
Beauvoir tries to comfort her, even when she knows recovery is unlikely.
After Françoise dies, Beauvoir reflects on why losing a mother can feel so profound.
Simone de Beauvoir’s memoir recounts her mother Françoise’s final weeks after a fall and a cancer diagnosis.
Françoise, 77, breaks her femur in a bathroom fall and is taken to hospital.
The hospital experience leaves Beauvoir confronting her mother’s vulnerability and dependence on caregivers.
As the illness progresses, Beauvoir reflects on Françoise’s past and their complicated relationship.
After her mother dies, Beauvoir considers grief, mortality, and the distinctive loss of a mother.
- Who
- Simone de Beauvoir and her mother, Françoise; Beauvoir’s sister Poupette is also mentioned.
- What
- The memoir recounts Françoise’s illness and death, and Beauvoir’s reflections on their relationship and grief.
- When
- Françoise is 77; the article does not give a calendar date for the events.
- Where
- A hospital, after Françoise falls in her bathroom; no city is specified.
- Why
- The memoir explores the experience of a mother’s dying and the meaning of death and grief.
Beauvoir’s perspective
Françoise’s perspective
Their relationship
Beauvoir’s perspective
Beauvoir sees tension between them, shaped by differences in morality and intellectual outlook, and says caring for her mother did not make their relationship better.
Françoise’s perspective
Françoise loves Beauvoir and admits she draws vitality from her, though she is intimidated by her daughter’s intellect and disapproves of some of her choices.
Facing death
Beauvoir’s perspective
Beauvoir recognizes the seriousness of the cancer and understands that her mother is dying, while sometimes offering hopeful reassurances.
Françoise’s perspective
Françoise is determined not to die at first, but becomes terrified of death as her illness progresses.
- Book
- A Very Easy Death
- Author
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Subject
- The illness and death of Beauvoir’s mother, Françoise
- Mother’s age
- 77
- Initial injury
- A broken femur after a fall in the bathroom
- Diagnosis
- A cancerous tumour
- Translator and publisher
- Translated from French by Patrick O’Brian; published by Pantheon