I bought this novel in London – Waterstones Piccadilly maybe? I do like a story about young women set in New York in the 20th Century (Rules of Civility, The Best of Everything)
Here’s the blurb …
Written with a trenchant, sardonic edge, The Group is a dazzlingly outspoken novel and a captivating look at the social history of America between two world wars. “Juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant.”–CosmopolitanAward-winning Mary McCarthy’s most celebrated novel follows the lives of eight Vassar graduates, known simply to their classmates as “the group.” An eclectic mix of personalities and upbringings, they meet a week after graduation to watch Kay Strong get married. After the ceremony, the women begin their adult lives — traveling to Europe, tackling the worlds of nursing and publishing, and finding love and heartbreak in the streets of New York City. Through the years, some of the friends grow apart and some become entangled in each other’s affairs, but all vow not to become like their mothers and fathers. It is only when one of them passes away that they all come back together again to mourn the loss of a friend, a confidante, and most importantly, a member of the group.
This novel was published in 1963 (and was on the New York Times best seller list for almost two years). It must have created buzz or a bit of a scandal – there was pre-marital sex, affairs (apparently it was banned in Australia). I found it fascinating.
The Guardian has a fabulous review with quotes from various women writers (AS Byatt, Claire Tomalin, Hilary Mantel) with their thoughts on The Group.