Again, I believe it is up for debate whether or not it is a “feminist book” – it is about women and by a woman, but if something is just an honest commentary, does it inherently serve a political purpose? What if this is unintended by the author (but not denied either)? And, ultimately, whether or not it is a “feminist” or a “women’s” novel, this is a label that should be worn with pride. Despite this blossoming women’s movement, The Group was publicly well received but critically clawed at: by conservatives, for being too open about the everyday plight of women (absolute shock at the mention of a diaphragm, or the speedy ‘deflowering’ of one of the main characters in chapter two), and by liberal elites, for being a cheap “women’s novel”. The Group fits in perfectly, tying into Betty Friedan’s ‘The Feminine Mystique’ to complement the growing gender-political unrest. Skirts were getting shorter, sex freer and women more restless. Following the first few years of post-university life for eight best friends and graduates of the elite, East Coast, Vassar college, the novel brilliantly and brashly depicts many of the so often glamourised or ignored aspects of women’s lives: sex, contraception, “romance”, motherhood, career, and, with few holds barred, gives a voice and depth to the often overlooked.Īlthough set in the 1930s, The Group was published in the 1960s, at the cusp of the second feminist revolution. Whether her intention or not, The Group undoubtedly is a feminist novel but it is first and foremost a nuanced, sharp, brisk, and starkly honest recount of what it means to be a certain kind of woman. My first instinct was to label it a “feminist novel”, but I was aware that author Mary McCarthy staunchly did not regard it as such.

Over the course of the fifteen chapters, friends would ask what I was reading, and I struggled to sum it up in a concise nutshell.

CW: rape.įittingly, I acquired The Group third-hand from my Mum, who passed me down her already-second-hand 1966 edition. Susie Chilver reviews the 1960s feminist (?!) classic ‘The Group’.

The group mary mccarthy review