Excess and Transgression in Simone de Beauvoir's Fiction The Discourse of Madness

Alison Holland's study focuses on the writer's frequently neglected novels and short stories, including L'Invitée, Les Mandarins, Les Belles Images, and La Femme rompue. Illuminating the density and rich complexity of Beauvoir's style, Holland demonstrates the extent to which Beauvoir's fiction undermines an ideologically patriarchal position on language. Her re-evaluation of Beauvoir as a fiction writer makes an important contribution to the wider debate on madness and literature.