A captivating novella about long-term relationships, getting older and how to live a good life, by the great Simone de Beauvoir. Nicole and Andre, a retired French couple, take a summer holiday to Russia. It is the 1960s and Russia is a beautiful, complicated place.Their guide is Macha, Andre's daughter from a previous relationship - a woman they both love. Adventure, inspiration, good food and good vodka are promised. Once thrilled by their romance, Nicole and Andre have now become too used to each other.Both harbour a growing feeling of not being fully understood - of being alone. Father and daughter engage in the grand debates of East-West relations, nationalism and socialism. But getting older, long-term relationships and how to enjoy life turn out to be the more pressing issues.