„La femme rompue“, The Woman Destroyed, is written by one of the most controversial feminists, Simone de Beauvoir. The book was originally published in 1967. Simone de Beauvoir´s impeccable writing style full of wits and eloquence paired with my curiosity about the destiny of three women in the book kept me engaged from start to end. De Beauvoir says, there is neither a morale to the stories nor are there any lessons to be learnt. She wants her readers to partake in the experiences of three women who are in misery and dilemma. Her purpose definitely worked for me. The stories are so emotional and so articulate that I couldn’t do anything, but deeply empathize with these women, feeling their frustration about life and their angst what the future may hold for them. Whilst these three women struggle find their own happiness, the reader will get to acknowledge that there isn’t a ‘universal key’ to happiness after all. The riddle of men and women and their relationships is an omnipresent topic throughout centuries, and these stories are not even that remote to some of our current societal problems women face: - Pressure of ageing - Giving up career for the sake of kids and husband - Kids & husband gone leaving a 44-years old Monique absolutely with nothing just to mention one example. Honestly, I don’t know what rode me into reading this book, though I am very glad to have read it, but even the merrier to have finished it ;)