The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre.
In Paris in 1938, a philosophy professor's determination to remain free collides with his lover's pregnancy and the approach of war. Jean-Paul Sartre brings an abstract ideal into contact with money, obligation and other people's needs.
Read it for the uncomfortable space between freedom as a principle and freedom as a way of living. The strongest discussion may begin with what the protagonist's independence requires others to bear.
Edition notes: The cover and Barnes & Noble paperback are the Vintage International edition, ISBN 9780679738954, translated from the French by Eric Sutton.
