''She Came to Stay'' (French, ''L'Invitée'') is a novel written by French author

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even th ...

first published in 1943. The novel is a fictional account of her and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

's relationship with

Olga Kosakiewicz Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

and

Wanda Kosakiewicz Wanda Kosakiewicz ( uk, Ванда Козакевич; 1917–1989), French theatre actress in the 1940s, was one of Jean-Paul Sartre's love interests and Olga Kosakiewicz's sister. Sartre wrote that she was one of the reasons that his friendship w ...

Plot

Set in Paris on the eve of and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the novel revolves around Françoise, whose open relationship with her partner Pierre becomes strained when they form a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

with her younger friend Xaviere. The novel explores many

existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

concepts such as freedom,

angst Angst is fear or anxiety (''anguish'' is its Romance languages, Latinate cognate, equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin). The dictionary definition for angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insec ...

, and

the other In phenomenology, the terms the Other and the Constitutive Other identify the other human being, in their differences from the Self, as being a cumulative, constituting factor in the self-image of a person; as acknowledgement of being real; he ...

Characters

* Françoise – considered to be Simone de Beauvoir * Pierre – considered to be Jean-Paul Sartre * Xaviere – considered to be a character combining elements of both Olga and Wanda Kosakiewicz

Plot

Characters

See also