A review by notoriousesr
The Group by Mary McCarthy

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

“The group,” a collection of eight bright, ambitious, and (relatively) affluent young women, graduates from Vassar in 1933. We follow them as they navigate the tricky world of adulthood, facing bad marriages, mental health crises, economic insecurity, 1930s sexual strictures, and more, all while WWII hums to life in the background.

Remind me to take my friend’s suggestions more often, because honestly? This book was BANGIN’. Okay. We start, and BAM. The first girl we focus on (Dottie) learns what an orgasm is by having a one-night-stand. After that, I knew this book was not playing around. Mary McCarthy truly is a master of the character study. At first, I was like “Uh-oh, eight interchangeable white girls?” But by the time I was a quarter of the way through the book, I could more or less tell them apart instantly. Too many P-names (Priss, Polly, Pokey? help!), but that’s forgivable. I knocked off a star for misleading me about which one would be a lesbian. KIDDING, I actually just think that Lakey’s absence for most of the narrative was a detriment, not a strong point. But overall, 4 out of 5 pessaries.