![]() ![]() In a way it seems as if this is more a collection of character sketches rather than a novel with any discernible plot. The chapters focus more on individual women rather than the group as a whole, which makes sense as they are all dispersing into their post-collegiate lives but that structure makes it a little difficult to see them as a group and to weigh their interactions with each other to see how they differ from when they were all living together at school. But they are all educated women embarking on their adult lives with fresh attitudes and expectations, some aligned with the social mores of the times and some in direct opposition. One will come into her own sexually with nary a wedding ring in sight. The young women are heading in different directions following their graduations and although their lives are somewhat constrained by the time they live in, they do have some options. They come together in the beginning to attend the slightly odd, definitely unconventional marriage of one of their number and they will come together again in the end, seven years on for a funeral. ![]() Set in 1933, the novel centers on a group of friends all recently graduated from Vassar. Mary McCarthy's novel, The Group, proves that for women anyway, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And it's fairly easy to see why even in the very beginning of the book. When this was written, it caused a huge scandal. ![]()
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