She Came to Stay

Simone de Beauvoir · 1908–1986 · France

Originally L'Invitée (French)

Why it matters

A couple's open relationship is tested when a younger woman moves in with them, jealousy curdling into something far darker. Beauvoir's debut novel, drawn directly from her own life with Sartre, and an early existentialist study of the Other.

At a glance

Sustained philosophical analysis of jealousy and consciousness within a long domestic plot.