Parenting, Publishing, Protesting

Abstract Auclair and Ségal also conveyed their messages in books. They wrote about being single mothers: Auclair to three teenagers and Ségal to the four boys she adopted or fostered after the war. They shared their experiences converting decrepit shacks to country homes outside Paris, highlighting their willingness to assert their preferences. Ségal published a book about being an advice columnist, describing her two-way dialogue with readers. Following her best-selling biography of Saint Teresa, Auclair published biographies of socialist Jean Jaurès, Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, and Saint Bernadette. She also published a series of books on happiness, sharing her blend of Christian mysticism, the Bhagavad Gita, and American “New Thought.” Moved by the many letters she received from women, Auclair began advocating for women’s reproductive rights. In 1962, using the hundreds of responses she received to her query in Marie-Claire, Auclair published The Black Book of Abortion.