Simone de Beauvoir delivers a stark and unflinching account of her mothers final days. Written with clarity, tenderness, and unsparing honesty, this memoir traces the physical and emotional unraveling of a once-vibrant woman, as witnessed by a daughter grappling with love, guilt, and helplessness.

Far more than a simple chronicle of dying, the book examines the intimate, often contradictory bond between mother and daughterinfused with care, regret, and decades of complicated history. As de Beauvoir confronts the reality of illness, institutional indifference, and mortality itself, she offers a meditation on aging, dignity, and the limits of control in the face of death.

Both deeply personal and philosophically rich, A Very Easy Death stands as one of de Beauvoirs most poignant works, illuminating the universal experience of loss through the lens of fierce intelligence and emotional vulnerability.